Exodus 20:9-10

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the  Lord  your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

Some people call work a four-letter word. Of course, it actually is, but you know what they mean when they refer to it that way. For most of my life, I didn't view it that way; Dad and Mom taught me that work is important. But like most people, there have been times when work was, well, work, the four-letter word. I am here, I have sometimes said when colleagues see me walk into the office and ask me how I am doing. My response was not necessarily meant to be derogatory, but it certainly could be construed that way.

Unfortunately, I am not like many people. For many, work is, well, work, the derogatory four-letter word. They don't want to be at work. They don't want to enjoy their work. They just want to pay their bills. They just want to get through this day so they can go home to rest. So people have forgotten the joy of work, and they expect a handout.


Tonight during Bible study, I learned a new appreciation work. God gave us the standard for work, and it's beautiful. You can't be alive and be a couch potato. You can work too much; too much work causes stress, burnout, sadness.

Work is the nature of God. It is a glorious social system in which we get to create. Hear the words from Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

  God is calling us to be generous in our work, too. In Ephesians, we are tasked with serving wholeheartedly, and not steal from our masters. As God reminds us in Exodus 35, God has given us abilities and knowledge in all kinds of crafts, to be used for God's glory.

So work, and work hard. But when you are done, and even if you aren't done, be sure to rest, the point of the fourth commandment: Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. Remember the Sabbath Day, that doesn't mean Saturday or Sunday, or whatever man-made day or decree your Sabbath has been named. It means take a day off ... and rest. God, who made us in his image; God who came to us in our image, rested on the seventh day. He saw all that he had made and it was very good, and when his Sabbath came, he rested. And he declared this rest good and beautiful.

Work can be beautiful. Just believe.