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Christian Business is Not All About Hard Work
By admin | July 16, 2008
Ask people about the key to success and amongst the many answers that one will receive is the need for hard work. The Bible is not short on exhortations for us to work hard. As Christian professionals and entrepreneurs, hard work is something we should not shy away from. In fact it should be right alongside other virtues like persistence and perseverance.
However, we need to be careful that we don’t take on the world’s definition, thoughts and actions at the expense of what our Heavenly Father says through His Word about work.
I am not suggesting for a minute that Christians should not work hard. That would not only be foolishness but against the word of God. However, work for the Christian is not only about hard work. After all, what’s the benefit of a lot of hard work without the blessing of God? My key text for this article is taken from Matthew 6:33
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Later on in this article, we will discuss the specific meanings of the words kingdom and righteous. There we will discover how this relates to work. To understand the scriptural concept of work, we need to go back to Genesis.
Back to the beginning
The book of Genesis records the creation of the heavens and the earth. The origin of work started with God as recorded in Genesis 2:2-3
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made
Six times in the scriptures it is recorded that God looked at the works of His hands and saw that it was good. God created man to share in the joy of His work.
Then God created man and gave him a mandate as recorded for us in Genesis 1:28-29 and Genesis 2:15
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth (Genesis 1:28-29)
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. (Genesis 2:15)
Adam, it would seem initially did his work quite well, as recorded in Genesis 2:19-20
19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
From these verses we can see that man was created to work in partnership with God, with God being the major provider and share holder. From the above scripture, we note that it was God Himself who brought the animals to Adam. He did not have to chase after the animals. However, Adam was not passive for he had the task and privilege of naming all the animals. In fact, God considered the work to be to be so great that he decided to create a helper for him (Genesis 2:18)
18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
Essentially, Adam was given the assignment of maintaining the garden. Adam was expected to tend and keep the garden. Man was created to be fruitful, multiply, dominate and manage the earth’s resources. God’s original intention was for us to work. Work is God’s divine design for us and God wants us to enjoy it.
Next time, we shall discuss how the introduction of sin affected work and how the biblical kingdom concept applies to work. Until you appear again on my page, stay blessed
Topics: Christian, Christian Business, Work |
July 17th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I agree
July 26th, 2008 at 1:35 am
I am a Missionary and Chaplain in the Island of Puerto Rico. I enjoy your messages, mostly because I was a business consultant in the past.
July 26th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I take all your articles as guidelines at my work place. It is encouraging.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Dear Sir,
I am Darwin from Chennai, India. I would like to do a business but that busisness should gloryfy our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What kind of business I should start. Kindly give me the prayerfull advice.
Thanking You,
Your’s in Christ,
Darwin.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Your piece was quite inspirational.As a small business enthusiast, I saw clearly the divine endorsemnt of Partnerships and the fact that success comes from the input of viable investments of the Shareholders
August 5th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
it’s a nice one, go on inspiring for more life’s for the Kingdom exploits.
Successful business is about glorifing God and give meaning to people.
August 16th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!