The Wisdom of Work Assorted Proverbs

 If you had the ability to pick any job on the face of the earth to earn a living, what would it be?  If money were no object, and you could take any kind of vacation you wanted for a whole month – what would your dream vacation look like?  If you had the ability to grant everyone in the world the ability to take their dream vacation during that same month that you were taking your dream vacation, would you do it?  If everyone did take their dream vacation at the same time that you took your vacation, what would your dream vacation look like?

Things We’ll Cover Today:  Origin of Work  Purpose of Work  The Biggest Obstacle to Work  When You Must Cease From Work

 In the beginning, man was created in the image of God and given dominion over the earth:  God created man in his own image… male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Gen 1:27-28)

 When God created man, there was no sin in the world.  Therefore man was able to exercise his dominion over the earth while working in a perfect environment to cultivate the garden that God had placed him in:  The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (Gen 2:15)  As he worked in the garden, man was able to produce food for himself:  God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. (Gen 1:29)

 So from the very beginning, even before there was sin in the world, we see that man was made to be a worker.

 After man sinned, he was still required to work, but work became much harder: (pain, thorns, sweat, death)  And to Adam [God] said, "Because you… have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." (Gen 3:17-19)

 The book of Proverbs (and the rest of the Bible) makes it clear that God expects us to work in order to provide for our basic needs and desires and to meet the needs of those around us:  All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. (14:23 NIV)  He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. (10:5)  He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. (12:11 NIV)  Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. (Eph. 4:28)

 Because we live in a fallen world, everything around us has a tendency to wear out, break, fall apart, become messy and overgrown, etc.  It is only through work that we can counteract the natural tendency of things in our fallen world to go “downhill”:  I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. (24:30-34 NIV)

 All work requires a certain degree of skill. Proverbs tells us those who become very skillful in their work will reap great benefits:  Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. (22:29)

 As we have seen, the fall of man brought many external obstacles to our ability to do work (pain, thorns, sweat, and death)  But the biggest obstacle to work is the internal obstacle that comes out of our own sinful hearts: the sin of laziness:  The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!” As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. (26:13-16)

 Those who are lazy bring harm to themselves:  Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. (10:4 NIV)  The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. (13:4)  Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger. (19:15)  The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back. (21:25-26)  The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway. (15:19 NIV)

 Those who are lazy bring harm to others:  Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him. (10:26)  Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys. (18:9)

 The counsel of Proverbs to those who are lazy:  Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. (6:6-11)

 God in his kind providence has arranged our world in such a way that a man must work in order to meet his needs.  Because God has set things up in this way, all men have a natural incentive to work and not become lazy:  The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on. (16:26 NIV)  Well meaning Christians sometimes interfere with this natural incentive by giving financial help to a person who is lazy and unwilling to work because they see that person is poor (and perhaps hungry).  By giving to such a person, though you have good intentions, you may actually be hurting the person that you intended to help!

 For this reason, the apostle Paul, commands us not to give help (even food!) to lazy people who are unwilling to work:  For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. (2Th 3:7-10)

 Though we must work to meet our physical needs, there is one need that we will never be able to meet no matter how hard we work: our spiritual need to be in right standing with God.  The Bible warns us that those who think they can get in right standing with God – by obeying God’s law or doing good works – are fooling themselves:  …by works of the law no one will be justified. (Gal 2:16)  …to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Rom 4:5)