Everybody's working for the weekend...

Genesis 3: ¹⁷ To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

Work defined in the dictionary as a verb, noun and an adjective, with well over 40 definitions in each category from the mechanical and physics application; to the use of it as a fermentation term. The first definition is however the most apt definition to the term. Work- to exert effort to accomplish something; labor; toil.

Lately, I've been working a lot. Honestly, it is for the money. As a student with a mass of student loans under my belt, I need to learn how to be a good steward of my time and money. With that, I am trying to pay off my debt and get back into school to continue furthering my mind and my education. Both of which are "fantastical" things.

While doing so I've found myself caught into the tedious act of work and doing what I must to get by. By doing that, I am doing exactly what satan want me to do. God created work as a toil as punishment for the fall of man, in hopes that through it He could redeem us back to him. To toil, to labor, to sweat, all are things that do not sound pleasant to us and because of that we find ourselves in constant battle with the "ground", meaning whatever we are working through.

Philippians 2: ¹²Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. ¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe ¹⁶as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

If we begin to look at work as a true redemption to God then we may look at it differently, in fact maybe we will see that Christ calls us to do it differently then the world. Do everything with out complaining or arguing. Then, is Paul saying that we are supposed to suffer, with a smile on our face and joy in our hearts???? YEP!

I truly believe that is what he is saying. When you get to that point at work where you can snap at a co-worker or clientele, or gossip about a situation you have no right taking part in, or being in-subordinate to your supervisor; maybe we should remember that God has given this to show our true heart to him. Can we worship and love God while being in "punishment and suffering for him". I mean Paul preached the Gospel for Christ for his job and I'm pretty sure his suffering was far more worse than a couple extra hours and an annoying co-worker. Why don't we as a community of believers change the way we work and look at work...I bet through that a lot of people will see God (maybe that is exactly how he intended it!).