Work: God’s Gift for Mankind

As you read this Ambassador Youth magazine, consider what you are holding. Paper and ink have been used to create this beautiful, multicolored publication. It has taken many hours to produce.

Examine the surrounding walls and the pictures hanging on them. Look at the chair on which you are sitting or the bed on which you are lying. Notice the blanket or sheets on it. Look at the dresser, the lights, the shelves, and the computer on your desk. Consider the rugs, the closet full of clothes, all your shoes, and the windows.

If you are someplace else other than your home, carefully observe every object you see. Look at the clothes others are wearing. What about the bottled water you are drinking? Notice the label.

Do you realize that everything around you—everything!—was created by someone’s labor? Everything you eat, wear, use and enjoy was all produced by one or more people.

You might have never consciously thought about it before, but everything that exists did not just appear suddenly on a store shelf. Someone worked to design and build everything you see.

When you go to the dentist, eat a hamburger, watch a television program, attend school—everything involved is a direct result of someone putting in effort to make or maintain what you use and enjoy.

The whole world functions because people work! God designed it this way for a special purpose—one that few people in a world of billions today understand.

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why?” Why would God design life this way? Why are we required to work?

Once you fully grasp the answer, the magnitude of God’s purpose will stun you. Simply put, God has given every human being an awesome gift. That gift is the requirement to work! Have you ever viewed it this way?

Because God has given us this wonderful gift, He expects us to use it. While this concept may be difficult to understand, working is a blessing from God. He gives us this ability so we can prepare for something much bigger in the future.

Instituted from the Beginning

By now, you might be thinking: “How is the requirement to work a gift? Work is hard and can be rather unpleasant. What is so great about it?”

To understand God’s mind regarding this principle, we must visit the opening pages of the Bible. The first sentence states, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).

God made Adam and Eve on the sixth day of the Creation week. Verse 27 states: “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.”

Notice that mankind was created in the image of God. This means we not only look like Him, but we were also designed to behave like Him. God is a Creator—we are to create as well!

To create means to work. And this is exactly what God instructed the first humans to do: “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Gen. 2:15).

The word “dress” in this verse means to “work” while the word “keep” means to “maintain.” Anyone who has ever kept a garden understands exactly what God was instructing Adam to do: till the soil, place seeds and seedlings into the ground, weed, water, keep the bugs and unwanted critters away, and harvest the crops. All of this requires work!

The main reason God wants productive labor from us is so that we all learn to create and accomplish. God wanted that vital lesson to be instilled into each human being’s character.

Work is even part of the Sabbath command. Yes, we are to rest every seventh day from sundown to sundown, but notice what should come before that rest: “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in [plowing] time and in harvest you shall rest” (Ex. 34:21).

Working for six days is just as much a part of the Fourth Commandment as resting on the seventh!

Yet work was never meant to be a burden. It was given to us to occupy our time with opportunities to create, build and design beneficial things in this life now. God also instilled this desire to accomplish, plan, create and work to serve a much greater purpose later. We will discuss that special purpose toward the end of this article.

Modern-day Plague

God the Father and Jesus Christ are not idle and never have been. We have also seen why God desires for us to work.

But the vast majority of mankind is cut off from God (Isa. 59:1-2), which means it does not know Him. Due to this, something regrettable is now happening.

Many people today do not see the benefit of being employed other than to earn money to pay for things. The desire for leisure and time-wasting activities is becoming the focus of many. As a result, millions are missing the incredible reason God gave us the requirement to work.

God never intended for people to be lazy. His own example clearly proves this.

Consider what the Bible says about idleness: “The soul of the sluggard [one who is lazy and idle] desires, and has nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat [prosperous]” (Prov. 13:4).

The Creator has designed life so that those who do nothing have nothing. Those who are diligent and are constantly trying to accomplish tasks will be blessed in a multitude of ways.

Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, once said: “Nobody can think straight who does not work. Idleness warps the mind.”

A 2000 study from the University of Chicago found that the overwhelming majority of people want to work less. In the study, adults of different ages were sampled in Germany, Great Britain, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada and Japan.

People were asked if they wanted to spend more time, less time, or the same amount of time as they currently did in five activities: in a paid job, doing household work, being with family, being with friends, and engaging in leisure activities. The results showed that as people got older, the desire to work declined. This was many years ago, so the statistics today are likely much worse.

Time in leisure activities had the highest response in every country. There is nothing wrong with leisure activities because we all should take time to rest, unwind and pursue other interests. We should have a balanced life. However, God showed us from the very beginning what should be our priority—and there is an incredible reason why.

Practically no one understands that God has given human beings the gift of working.

CNN Money interviewed business owners and produced an article called “I Have Jobs, But No One Wants Them.” The story unveiled the reality that a growing number of people do not want to work, even though there are plenty of jobs available.

One business owner described this mentality.

“Many people add up their constantly renewed unemployment, food stamps and housing assistance and realize that they can make as much not working, as working.”

King Solomon wrote in the Proverbs, “In all labor there is profit…” (14:23). The principle God is revealing is that in any job we perform, regardless of the perceived importance, there is profit. In other words, it benefits the one who performs it.

Another employer told CNN Money: “We hosted a job fair where we hired 40 people. Twenty-five showed up for training. Only two lasted more than a couple of weeks. People work for three months and get themselves fired so they can collect unemployment for another year.”

People have no idea they are robbing themselves of the great blessings that working automatically produces.

Benefits of Work

Most today have no idea that working is what God desires for all of us and that there are many benefits associated with it. Of course receiving a paycheck is wonderful, but you may not have ever considered the following additional benefits of working.

Setting goals: When you start working, you will be required by your employer to set goals. This is one of the most valuable things you will ever learn.

Sticking to specific goals will focus your attention on the task at hand. From there you can develop a road map to achieve those goals. Once this skill is learned, you will have the tools to succeed in any venture in your life.

Do you realize that many today do not know how to set goals? Many just drift along in life and never arrive at a specific destination. Without this most basic building block of accomplishment, it is virtually impossible to be successful at anything.

There will be goals to achieve every day, starting with the most basic—arriving to work on time—to the more complex tasks required for your specific job responsibilities.

Cooperation: All businesses are designed to either provide a service or manufacture a product. Most businesses employ many people. Joining a company or business is just like joining a team.

A team must work together. In order for team members to work toward a shared goal, they must be in harmony. This is called cooperation.

Businesses cannot function without cooperation. When employees stop working together, productivity stops. Cooperation is vital in any undertaking.

Time-management skills: We all are given the same amount of time each day. Responsible employees understand the need to use every second in a productive way. Many jobs have multiple tasks and responsibilities so the need to budget our time becomes crucial. Prioritizing tasks allows us to become more productive and successful employees.

Handling finances: When you begin to work, one of the benefits of the fruit of your labor is the payment you receive for your time doing your job. You reap what you sow (in this case, you have sown time at your job, so you reap your wages). Once you have income, it is important to properly budget what God allows you to be a steward over.

The Creator has a law that produces great blessings when followed (Mal. 3:10). God commands His people to tithe to support His Work. God owns everything and we only get to use His resources during our lifetime. He wants us to properly handle what He allows us to have. Tithing shows Him that we are serious about having a proper relationship with Him. Not only that, when we obey His tithing law, we reap additional benefits! (Read Proverbs 3:9-10.)

Experience: Many people start working at a young age and over the course of their lives work many different jobs. By doing this, you can determine what you enjoy. This is important as you seek the right career.

Through the many jobs you will work, you will gain precious experience. Every job you do will provide you with a depth of experience you can use throughout your life.

In addition to these benefits, being a teenager in God’s Church gives you an advantage over all others in the job market. You have access to principles that will allow you to stand out because you live according to God’s Way. Mr. Pack’s booklet The Laws to Success shows that when you apply God’s laws in your life, you then have the tools to be successful in anything.

Your Future

It is now time to explain the most important reason God wants all mankind to work—the purpose God intended from the very beginning.

Mr. Pack’s article “What Your Future Can Be!” proves from the Bible that God created mankind to have dominion over all of His Creation.

Realize what this means: God desires that all of us have dominion over everything—the entire universe—and continue to design, create, develop and maintain it for all time.

This means creating forever as part of the Family of God! Notice Isaiah 9: “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end…” (vs. 7).

God desires for us to work now so we learn the principle of work and are prepared to assist Him in completing the creation of the universe and beyond. Can you see the awesome future that lies ahead? The life God is planning for each of us will not be burdensome. On the contrary, the Creator describes eternity as “pleasures for evermore” (Psa. 16:11).

There are benefits we can glean now from working that will make us successful in this world. But the work ethic we develop will benefit us much more in the future. We will be working forever and it will not be by the “sweat of our face” (Gen. 3:19)! We will be involved in exciting, challenging and stimulating projects “for evermore”! We will never get bored, always enjoy our past accomplishments, and look ahead to future projects.

God desires for you to work now so you can become like Him and Jesus Christ. All those who are born into the God Family will be creators. We must learn how to work now so we can become like God later!

From here on, determine to look at work differently—realize its vital importance. Psalms states, “Of old have You laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of Your hands” (102:25). You are in training now to lay foundations of future planets by the work of your hands—so says God!

Can you believe it? Few actually do. But you can believe what God has revealed to you in the scriptures we have just studied!

There is much to do in the limitless universe. Working now is preparing us to be an integral part of eternity. Work truly is a gift from our heavenly Father.

Take advantage of this awesome truth that so few in the world today understand. Prepare now for your awesome future by developing a strong work ethic. Your incredible career as a creator in the God Family lies before you.

Let’s get to work!