Have you ever heard someone remark, "Ugh, it is Monday again"? It seems the social media feed can get filled with all kinds of 'Monday Meems' that poke fun at how 'fatiguing' it is to start a new week. We have all probably quipped the weekend went way too fast, haven't we? Why do we dread Monday morning? Perhaps it is because we know another week starts, but all we can see is the unfinished business of the week now behind us. It could be we know this week will be a 'doozy' of a week, filled with meeting after meeting, deadlines pressing in on us. We can start the week slow and coast along through the rest of the days, or we can start it out with a totally unexpected 'big bang' kind of moment and then ride it out till the end, knowing every day will bring a new twist or turn we will be challenged to endure. I have always wondered why a 'week' was made up of 5 work days and only 2 weekend days. Most of us might like to flip the tables a bit and had a 2 day work week and a 5 day weekend, but I think God has other plans in mind when it comes to our 'week'.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15)
God himself had just settled down after pretty long work week of creating all things - in fact, his work week was made up of SIX work days! Why do I bother to complain about a five day work week? In recounting his "work week", we find a celebration of his week with the creation of man. In the midst of this accounting of his 'work week', we find the words above. Eden had been created for man to enjoy fully and completely - but also to work - Eden didn't exclude a 'work week' either! I don't believe Eden was an after-thought by God, but a pre-planned design in order to help Adam feel "purpose" in his daily life. A week without some form of 'occupation' would be hum-drum and a little 'fatiguing' just because of the boredom. It was God's intent for us to work and to work well. Adam was actually given the garden to work it and to take care of it with all the talent he had been given. God was taking care of Adam - but Adam also had some responsibilities he was to fulfill. Guess what? God gave you the very position you find yourself in today - to work it and tend it - complete with the Mondays, other week days, and even the weekends!
It makes no difference if you are placed in the position of going to work each day in a high-rise building, dressed in the nicest suit or dress, or you scramble after wee ones, clad in house-slippers and blue jeans. You could be in sweats and in front of a computer, or in work jeans digging ditches. It is your position to work and tend what God has given you - what he has put into your life. I think God might just have created us to be involved in "fruitful" activity because he knows full well how much trouble we get into when our minds and hands are idle! In the idleness of our minds - we concoct all kinds of schemes or mischief - most of them are really not helpful to our soul, emotions, or spirit at all! In today's economy, many are without "work" in the sense of being able to earn an income from a "paying job". There is a tendency to use the term "unemployed" as a tag or label for not having "productive" work for which we get paid. Don't get me wrong, but income is only one thing we "earn" from being engaged in "work". God says whatever we put our hands to, whether it is paid or unpaid activity, we are to do it with all our might. It is in the activity he designs for us that we are immensely blessed - even when it seems like all hope is gone, we are barely walking and a little wounded, or the battle seems to be too tough to handle for any one human being.
As long as Adam was taking care of the garden as God had designed, he did well, enjoyed time with God, and communed in the presence of the Almighty. It was when Adam (and Eve) began to consider things in his (her) "idleness" that trouble entered in! Regardless of the circumstances of our "work" week - God's words to us are: Work it and take care of it! It may not be all we expected, dreamed of, or hoped for - but it is ours! What we choose to do with the "work" we are given determines the "fruitfulness" of our "garden"! For those who find themselves without gainful employment during these times, my prayer is for God to open doors for you this week which perhaps have been previously closed to you. May he richly reward you in the "labors" you are undertaking in your pursuit of employment - that is work in and of itself, is it not? In the time between being "unemployed" and being "employed", may you never lose sight of the call to work and tend whatever it is he has given to you to do in this period of time. It is this very activity which he intends for this season in your life - in it you will surely find blessing you never imagined possible! Just sayin!
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15)
God himself had just settled down after pretty long work week of creating all things - in fact, his work week was made up of SIX work days! Why do I bother to complain about a five day work week? In recounting his "work week", we find a celebration of his week with the creation of man. In the midst of this accounting of his 'work week', we find the words above. Eden had been created for man to enjoy fully and completely - but also to work - Eden didn't exclude a 'work week' either! I don't believe Eden was an after-thought by God, but a pre-planned design in order to help Adam feel "purpose" in his daily life. A week without some form of 'occupation' would be hum-drum and a little 'fatiguing' just because of the boredom. It was God's intent for us to work and to work well. Adam was actually given the garden to work it and to take care of it with all the talent he had been given. God was taking care of Adam - but Adam also had some responsibilities he was to fulfill. Guess what? God gave you the very position you find yourself in today - to work it and tend it - complete with the Mondays, other week days, and even the weekends!
It makes no difference if you are placed in the position of going to work each day in a high-rise building, dressed in the nicest suit or dress, or you scramble after wee ones, clad in house-slippers and blue jeans. You could be in sweats and in front of a computer, or in work jeans digging ditches. It is your position to work and tend what God has given you - what he has put into your life. I think God might just have created us to be involved in "fruitful" activity because he knows full well how much trouble we get into when our minds and hands are idle! In the idleness of our minds - we concoct all kinds of schemes or mischief - most of them are really not helpful to our soul, emotions, or spirit at all! In today's economy, many are without "work" in the sense of being able to earn an income from a "paying job". There is a tendency to use the term "unemployed" as a tag or label for not having "productive" work for which we get paid. Don't get me wrong, but income is only one thing we "earn" from being engaged in "work". God says whatever we put our hands to, whether it is paid or unpaid activity, we are to do it with all our might. It is in the activity he designs for us that we are immensely blessed - even when it seems like all hope is gone, we are barely walking and a little wounded, or the battle seems to be too tough to handle for any one human being.
As long as Adam was taking care of the garden as God had designed, he did well, enjoyed time with God, and communed in the presence of the Almighty. It was when Adam (and Eve) began to consider things in his (her) "idleness" that trouble entered in! Regardless of the circumstances of our "work" week - God's words to us are: Work it and take care of it! It may not be all we expected, dreamed of, or hoped for - but it is ours! What we choose to do with the "work" we are given determines the "fruitfulness" of our "garden"! For those who find themselves without gainful employment during these times, my prayer is for God to open doors for you this week which perhaps have been previously closed to you. May he richly reward you in the "labors" you are undertaking in your pursuit of employment - that is work in and of itself, is it not? In the time between being "unemployed" and being "employed", may you never lose sight of the call to work and tend whatever it is he has given to you to do in this period of time. It is this very activity which he intends for this season in your life - in it you will surely find blessing you never imagined possible! Just sayin!
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