I Was Created To Work

"No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve both God and money." Luke 16:13 

God created the world with a responsibility to "tend the garden." When God created man, He placed in him a natural God given desire to work, to tend the Garden. With that desire, comes all the tools in each of us to manage the task. We are a driven creature. We have egos that can only be fulfilled with a self worth and significance that comes from the work God gives us. The danger is when we are in bondage to our role or job. Bondage is characterized by a lack of balance.  We obtain a lot of satisfaction, significance, recognition, and just pure delight from our work. Our place in the marketplace can bring us all the pleasures and benefits that God created for us to enjoy, but we have to keep it in balance. 

I had a friend not too long ago who fell in this trap. He worked endless hours to gain what the world offered and what he thought would make he and his family happy. Success and the pleasures it offered became his total focus. He thought the more he worked the more success he would have in all areas of his life. He began to drift away from his family to spend more time with work. When the hours didn't make it happen, he  eventually ended up stealing from his company. Sadly, he ended up loosing his family  for his actions. All because work took over his life. Why? Because he thought enough work would bring enough satisfaction. 

Our work is just one part of our life. We have families, friends, church, and many other areas of our life. There are many people who think that work is the key to providing the pleasures that will bring them and their family happiness. Others come to love their work to the point it has become their first love. Many a man has come to the point of disaster in their family life because of working too much only to respond to those who have been hurt - "I was doing it all for you." There is no amount of success worth giving up soccer or baseball games with the family and keeping our fellowship and responsibilities with God.

God's original intention was to have a loving relationship with us while He walked along side of us in the Garden. He wanted us to find joy, fulfillment, and success in our work. The question of balancing work with the other areas of life was not a problem. When man fell out of grace with God, that perfect balance fell at the same time. Not only did we have to be reconciled back to God, but we also had to reconcile our priorities in life.