Episode Details

Prayer

Reading

Genesis 2:15.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

Meditation

Of the numerous popular songs of the Australian rock band Powderfinger, “Not my kinda scene” was definitely up there. Get on YouTube and listen to the song sometime, but at least for now let me give you the opening words:

“Tell me where I'mSupposed to beginAn unhappy life workingSome kind of dead end jobFor everything you thought you hadHas gone from worse to bad.”

These words express a sentiment typical of many people. Work is a drudgery, a necessary evil. Even Christians can tend to define work in terms of the curse in Genesis 3. In one sense, yes, there are many thorns and thistles in our work because of the fall. In spite of this, however, we need to realise that work in its basic nature is a blessing. Work was instituted before the fall. It’s not a curse, it’s a blessing, and it ought not to be a drudgery to us.

In an earlier meditation we’ve already seen to some extent how work will be a blessing: as we serve others, our work will be a blessing to them. A well made pair of shoes is a blessing to those who have them. Building on that, we need to also see that this blessing is more significant still. So here’s my message for you in this meditation: work is a blessing because work is fruitful. Let’s unpack this a little.

The fruitfulness of work ties back in to our question of the relationship between work and life. Work is one of the God-appointed means through which life will flourish. I’ve been trying to say here that work is fruitful, byt why do I say that? Well, you tell me, what happens when a man works and keeps his garden? I’ll tell you what happens – fruit grows! In Psalm 128:1 “Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.” The fruit of our labour will be a blessing to ourselves and others. Even more importantly, it will be a source of life.

I’ve said in earlier meditations that God will fill the earth with life in three ways: through service, wisdom, and relationships. Our focus here is service. So then, this is how service, or work, fills the earth with life. In the big picture sense, service and work bears fruit, and fruit enables life to flourish. That’s true in the most basic sense because there’s a fundamental relationship between working, eating, and living. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 says: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” How does God provide for life to grow? He gives man work, and as the man works he provides food for his family, and thus his family is sustained and enabled to live. Similarly, this is why 1 Timothy 5:8 says “if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” He has denied the faith because he is going against one of the most fundamental and basic blessings that God has given: the blessing of fruitful work. Life flourishes as man works because man’s work is fruitful.

This principle starts with gardening and farming (i.e. we need food). It is a basic necessity in every household (i.e. we need to work so that we can eat). It starts there, but this principle then also extends outward. As a man works, the fruit of his labour allows life to develop and flourish even more. That’s what technology, for example, does. You might not grow carrots as a farmer, but as a doctor your work will still nourish life. As an artist, your work will enrich the beauty of life. As a mechanic, your work will enable life to excel and grow through transport. As a computer technician, you will equip people with better and more powerful tools to see life expand in new and exciting ways. So then, all of our work