Enjoy the benefits of your work

Work is good. But work is hard. At least, most work has difficult elements. It can be laborious, monotonous, draining, etc. God always intended for us to work. He made man and woman caretakers of the earth. They were to take dominion of it, tend it, and cause it to produce. But it only became drudgery when humans disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. Part of the curse of sin was that man's relationships were broken. This includes the relationship between man and God, humans and each other, and between humans and nature.

You have probably noticed that there is a blessing and a curse in work. You find fulfillment in accomplishment, but you also feel like you were robbed of part of your life to get to the accomplishment. That makes sense. Work is still a creative endeavor, but now we toil to achieve the benefit. Toil is defined as ‘struggle, battle, laborious effort, (and my favorite) long strenuous fatiguing labor.’ Can I get an ‘Amen’? But we do it. You do it. You work because you are a responsible human being. You aren’t a lazy bum wanting to lay around while someone else takes care of you. Your family needs you to provide, and you won’t let them down. And you actually do get a healthy sense of worth from your efforts.

So enjoy your work. Work smart. It is okay to curb the toil if you can do so without hurting someone else. Reap the good benefits of a good day at work. Do not be ashamed of success. Do not feel bad about enjoying the fruits of your long strenuous fatiguing labor. That is part of your reward for being a faithful provider. But do not be a wage slave today. Don’t do it for the money. Remember that no one at your funeral will talk about how much money you made. If they do, you probably failed in other areas of your life. You were put here to be creative and responsible. Enjoy the final product, even if the process is brutal at times. 

One writer gave this encouragement, “Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.” (Ecclesiastes 9:7)

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