Work Day
“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.” Genesis 3:19
Labor Day isn’t on most people’s list of top ten holidays. It doesn’t have the childish thrill of Christmas. It doesn’t have the nostalgic wonder of a birthday. It doesn’t have the sweet sentimentality of Thanksgiving. It doesn’t have the prideful excitement of Independence Day.
In fact, many of us have negative memories associated with Labor Day. It was the holiday coincided with the beginning of a new school year. It was the holiday on which we put away summer toys and got out autumn lawn care tools.
And for me, it got worse when I got older. I learned what Labor Day was celebrating. Dwelling as I do, on the conservative side of most political, social and intellectual issues, it frustrated me to see our nation celebrating (according to the World Book Encyclopedia) the “accomplishments of organized Labor Unions.”
But lately, I have reconsidered my attitude towards Labor Day. I have chosen to celebrate it as a day to be thankful for work.
Which perhaps might seem strange. Why celebrate “work?” Why celebrate the sweat, toil, and tears that we ceaselessly endure in order to provide bread, shelter, and a bit of pleasure?
We should celebrate “work” because work wasn’t intended by God to be sweat, toil, and tears. God invented work when He created Adam. Adam worked in Eden because it was part what it meant to be created in the ‘image of God.’ (God works… and so Adam worked.) Adam worked in Eden because doing is a necessary part of living. Adam worked in Eden because he found self-fulfillment in his work. Adam worked in Eden because there was work that needed to be done.
And back then, work was pleasant.
It was only after Adam’s rebellion against God that work changed into something unpleasant. After Adam chose to follow his own advice, instead of God’s, God said that work would now be different. It would be hard. It would hurt. It would be monotonous at times. It would be dangerous at times. It would be something to despise, instead of something to find meaning through.
And so work has become hard, painful, monotonous, dangerous and despicable.
But Jesus changes that. The salvation that Christ brings is more than just an invisible, internal, incomprehensible change in our souls. It has results that are visible, external, and comprehensible. He came to return mankind to the way we were in Eden. Except wiser, maybe.
The change is not complete, obviously. We still see the effects of Adam’s choice every day. Cancer, weeds, decay, tornadoes and droughts are all effects of Adam’s profound original Sin. BUT… Christ came to fix things.
Our work is simply one sphere of our lives that we need to bring under the authority of the Lord. He is transforming and restoring it in the same way that He is transforming our conscience, our attitudes, our understanding of Him, our relationships, and our tonguales.
We can aid that process by altering our view of work. Don’t see it as suffering. See it as a wonderful chance to serve someone. Don’t see it as something to endure. See it as a way to demonstrate who we are. Don’t see it as something horrible. See it as something self-fulfilling, God-honoring, and world-changing.
Happy Work Day!