I know that this sounds like a workaholic slogan but I am not a workaholic and still I like the phrase. I saw the adage first, years ago during a tour of Mayo Clinic, on a plaque in a restored office of one of the doctors Mayo. I cannot vouch for Dr. Mayo (Is that short for mayonnaise? Lite, please.), still my wife will vouch that I am not a workaholic. Wait a minute…that doesn’t sound right. I am a hard worker but not a workaholic. Is that right, honey? I sorta hope she’s not reading this.
Many think of work as part of the curse on Adam and his descendants after he passively went along with Eve’s sin. (Am I the only one who’s wondered what would have happened if after Eve took a bite, Adam would have refused to join her?) Someone once said, “Work is the crabgrass in the lawn of life.” But work was not the curse! Read it! Genesis 3:17ff. “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you(I just knew thistles were not in God’s original plan.)…By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food…” First off note that Adam was not cursed, the ground was. Basically, the earth would not be as productive as it was before. Work would therefore require the proverbial “blood, sweat and tears.” Less productive and futile work was the curse, not work itself.
Remember, before any sin, Adam was given work to do. The oldest occupation on the planet is that of a gardener/farmer. What must it have been like to go to work before the curse? Wow! I can’t even imagine.
When accused of working on the Sabbath, Jesus didn’t deny it but took it as a compliment. He said His Father was always working and that He was just following His Father’s example. (John 5:17ff.) Paul said that God is at work in you and he challenges us to “work out your salvation.” (Phil. 2:12-13)
You may not be able to work your way into heaven but you do need to work your salvation out. That means honoring God in everything you do. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” (Col. 2:23). I happen to think that that means “everything” including teaching, lifting, writing, word processing, marketing, producing…everything.”
