Financial Discipleship - the Bible on WorkSample

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He spent six days working, putting His creation together (Genesis 2:2-3). And in the beginning, God put Adam to work (Genesis 2:15). He put him in charge of the garden. He gave him responsibilities. And this was before he and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.

Once Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating from the one tree He instructed them not to eat, that’s when it changed (Genesis 3:17-19). After their sin, God told them labor, pain, and sweat would come.

Many of us may believe that work is the bane of our existence. But there’s nothing wrong with working. It was never the Lord’s intention for work to be our punishment.

Although God told Adam and Eve they’d experience labor, He still desires for us to find contentment, joy, and good through our work. Later, He established a new covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:9). After the flood, God told Noah to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 9:1).

Proverbs 10:4-5 affirms the reward of hard work. And Proverbs 12:11 tells us there is satisfaction. Don’t settle for anything less than reward and satisfaction. God knows our hearts, and He knows what can make us content. His desire for us is to have an abundant life (John 10:10). He knows our life is filled with many days of work. So, that means His plan is not to harm us with work. His plan is to show us that everything that is good can come from work (Ephesians 4:28; Ecclesiastes 5:18-19).

God worked… to create us (Ephesians 2:10). He makes no mistakes. Don’t ever think He made a mistake with you. You have so much to give. You have so much to offer. You are a gift to the world, as we all are. Just as many before you have, you can find work that you were born to do (John 4:34).

Remember: Walking in your purpose does not have a specific look to it. You can create a career for yourself as a professional boxer or as a postal worker and still fulfill your purpose. Who you are is not what you do. Who you are is what God says you are. Find the purpose that He designed for your life. And find work that is good. Because He is good.

(excerpt taken from The Bible on Money, Compass-finances God's way, 2022)