“Mike.”

“MikeMikeMikeMikeMike.”

“Guess what day it is, Mike?”

It’s Wednesday, aka “hump day”, as I am writing this.  Sometimes the work week can feel like a hill (or mountain) to climb up and down over and over again.  At the end of Wednesday, for Monday-Friday jobs, we’re over the hump, over halfway done. It’s all downhill from here.

Why is work so hard?  Why do we even do something we describe as such drudgery?

Pastor Mike did a great job opening our September series, including reminding us that practically, we work to provide for our lives.  We work for some things we need, and we trade work for other things we need and want, usually with money as a convenient way of trading value.

Pastor Mike also drew us back to the creation story, where we are reminded that God created us to work, to govern and care for His creation. He created us to “cultivate the soil” (Gen 2:5), to “tend and watch over” (2:15) the garden.  Mankind was created to care for creation. We are part of the ecosystem of God’s creation, and we have been entrusted with the position of governing it.

We work for the good of all of God’s creation, because that is what He created us for.

Only after the sin of Adam and Eve does this work become such a struggle (Gen 3:17).

So now we struggle for the good of all creation.  Our work is a blessing to the Earth, and all those around us.

You are a blessing sent by God to His creation, including people.

And even though we rebelled, and continue to fall short, He saved us and continues to send us out to do the work He designed us for. We don’t work to earn salvation, we work as a love response to God who already saved us.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:8-10

Unique in all of creation, He formed mankind by hand.  God hand made you for work.  

As we look closely at work, this month, we’ll explore:

• The gift of being able to create, through our work, and how it is a labor of love.
• The motivation for work, God already saved you, and He invites you to be a co-creator with Him!
• The purpose we were designed for, to work, to be active as God is active.
• The role we are entrusted with, the managers of God’s creation.
• The praise to God that our work can pour forth, testifying to the Who we belong to.

Remember, you are God’s handiwork!   And you bless creation as you work.

Let me know how your perspective on work is challenged this month.  Send stories and questions to mwipperman@livelifetogether.com