Get To Work

One of the things that I admire about small town America it the work ethic. I just finished talking to my cousin, and he was upset about a coworker who was going to do as little on the job as he could because he had union job security. We live in a society were it seems more and more people are taking without giving anything back. It is sad when a man who doesn’t want to work hard cannot be fired, and when someone who does not want to work at all can have most of their needs met through government programs. My wife recently read that in some states, government programs were offering free cell phone service for low income individuals. (These were not just emergency 911 phones either). I have no problem with low income people having cell phones- I am one of them- I just do not believe someone else should pay for it.
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What happened to the idea that we should work for what we get instead of looking for free handouts? Some might say that what I am suggesting is an old fashioned idea. I will agree, the idea of a work ethic is quite old fashioned, because it comes straight from God. The Scripture goes so far as to say that if a man doesn’t work, he should not eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 says, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”
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That is a pretty bold statement. If anything is a necessity, it would be food, yet the Scripture makes it clear that free food is not to be available to those in the church who are unwilling to work. Consider that there are those who have real needs. How immoral would it be to let a widow starve because all the available resources had been given to those who were just too lazy to work. Even as we consider helping out widows, we are given specific instructions in I Timothy 5, so that those most deserving of the help get what is available.
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Man has been expected to work ever since he was created. Even before Adam sinned, God gave him work to do. “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Genesis 2:15. God did this even before he commanded Adam not to eat of the forbidden fruit. Work is not a punishment of sin, it is just part of what man was made to do. In fact, there are few things as fulfilling to man as an honest days work. The big secret is that work is fun. If that is part of what we were created for, why shouldn’t it be?
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But lets face it, work can be hard. Certain aspects of an enjoyable job are not so much fun. This is a part of the consequence of sin. Because of sin, man would have to sweat for his food, instead of having easy work to get it. Genesis 3:19 clarifies, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
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Even during hard times-especially during hard times- work is still the best way to prevent poverty. Proverbs 24:33-34 warns, “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.” Proverbs 20:13 says as well, “Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.” In hard times, we recognize that a job may not be as easy to find as it was before, but the harder you work, the more likely you will be to have and keep a job. Further, if even a hard worker cannot find a job, this should remind us not be so prideful in our work ethic that we forget to trust God and lean on Him for help. That trust in Him should not be an excuse for becoming a sluggard though.
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Instead of being lazy, we should follow the example of the hard working ant. “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:” Proverbs 6:6. Sadly, a lazy man will come up with all kinds of excuses why he cannot work. Proverbs 20:4 shows little patience for such excuses, “The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.” If you keep making excuses for not working, do not be surprised if you end up with nothing. Proverbs 13:4 is clear, “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.”
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If you have not been working and are not sure how to get started, try doing what I did at a time that I was without a job. I showed up a the job site and told the potential employer that I was willing to work for him for free for the first day so that he could see if he wanted to hire me. I had a job by mid morning the first day I went job hunting.
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I am not guaranteeing a high paying job, but if we are satisfied with having our basic needs met (1 Timothy 6:8 “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content”) there are still plenty of opportunities for those willing and able to work. “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” Ephesians 4:28