Jesus in My Work: Why did God make me to work?

Because God Works

God first creates. God works. God makes, creatively, all of creation.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Gen. 1:1 (NLT)

Because God Enjoys Work

God works and creates because working brings him joy and pleasure. We know that God does not need His creation (Acts 17:25), but God creates for His own joy. The repetition of And God saw that it was good. (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 17, 21, 25, 31) shows God’s pleasure in His work to bring life and order out of a formless and void earth.

 Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was very good! Gen. 1:31 (NLT)

Because God Enjoys Prospering His Work

God reveals His desire and plan to increase, grow, and flourish His amazing works of creation in the first chapter of Genesis. God prospers His work by making the land sprout and produce, filling the skies and the waters, and commanding His creation to be fruitful and multiply. So part of God’s plan to flourish His work is having His creation contribute and increase it.

Because You Are Made To Work Like God Works

Your work shows God to the world. Part of being a representative of God is tied to the work we do each day, for God. You are made to enjoy work like God enjoys works. You are made to prosper God’s work by working and caring for God’s creation in your work.

Then God said, Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. Gen. 1:26a (NLT)

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 (NIV)

Personal Reflection and Application:

Q: In your current vocation, what does it look like to prosper (increase/multiply/flourish) the things that God has entrusted to your care?

Q: In your current vocation, what opportunities do you have to better represent God in how you care and sustain everything in your sphere of influence?

Q: In your current vocation, what opportunities do you have to represent God in how you create, design, or make things to help others flourish?

Recommended Resources for the Topic of Work

  1. Bible: Genesis, Ecclesiastes, Titus, and Philemon
  2. Nelson, Tom. Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011).
  3. Perman, Matt. What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014).
  4. Keller, Timothy. Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work. (New York: Roverhead Books, 2012).
  5. Guiness, Os. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2003).
  6. Sayers, Dorothy L. Letters to a Diminished Church: Passionate Arguments for the Relevance of Christian Doctrine. (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2012).
  7. Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community. (Nashville: HarperCollins, 2009 ed.)
  8. Barna Group and Goff, Bob. Multi-Careering: Do Work That Matters at Every Stage of Your Journey. (Barna Group: 2014).
Aaron Birk
Aaron is married to Tirzah and has three children: Zemirah, Boaz, and Keziah. Aaron is the Pastor of Global Missions for Faith Church. He serves as a service Pastor for the 11:00 a.m. worship service at Faith West. Aaron oversees international students, missionaries, and short term missions. He is certified as a biblical counselor through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).