The Work of God

Of all the possible idols that can separate us from God, the most insidious, personally speaking, is work. I have been retired for almost a decade. I worked on a part-time basis for another three years following my retirement. I have come to realize that what I considered to be nothing more than a healthy work ethic and admittedly driven ambition was much closer to full blown idolatry. All of my working life, I planned, prepared and studied as necessary for the next promotion. With the exception of one ten year stint as a superintendent of schools, the longest I remained in one position was four years. My average stay in many positions was three years before seeking a new job with better prospects. I moved from teacher to vice-principal in two different schools, to principal of small school, to principal of two small schools, to principal of a larger school, to superintendent, and finally to director of education.

The last thirteen years of my career consisted of 70 hour work weeks with some days ending after 11:00 P.M. I sat through countless meetings, travelled a lot and worked most evenings and a good part of weekends. The odd thing, as I look back, is despite my realization that I worshiped at the shrine frequented by driven workaholics, I am still proud of what I accomplished. I hope I did some good for the students and parents I served. I also had a very supportive wife who was with me every step of the way. I did not know the Lord Jesus as my savior until near the end of my working years. I began to become aware of work being my modern idol replacing ancient wooden statues of various small “g” gods just prior to my retirement.

One has only to browse through the the Book of Proverbs or the Epistles of Paul to learn that the Bible espouses a healthy work ethic. The key word is healthy. For the majority of my career, my approach to work was missing one very important element as presented to us by Jesus Himself in John 6:27-29

27 “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

28 ¶ Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Without faith in Jesus, no work would be better than hard work. When you live and work by faith in the Son of God, then you are satisfying what God requires for a healthy and productive work life. If you truly fulfill this one requirement, whatever else you do for work will be blessed. Although so called “good works” which we do for the benefit of others around us are not required to achieve everlasting life, when we work with faith we will naturally tend to good works through our actions and our giving. As is often true of the Savior, the most beautiful component of what Jesus tells us in these three verses is the stark simplicity. The only work required of God is faith. Wow.

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