The Gift of Today's Work

When you arrive home on an average day, you may be greeted with a beloved pet, a spouse, maybe many children, etc. Then, it’s time to take care of the house, care well for your family, make dinner, and begin the bedtime routine. Once you fall asleep, the next moment you remember is the chaotic alarm reminding you of the day ahead. You head to work and repeat the whole day over again.

The Lord has given us work “under the sun,” as explained in Ecclesiastes 9:11, to work the ground and to subdue it. And yet, work becomes a mundane, frustrating, chaotic emotional roller coaster.

But in the garden, before evil made its entrance into our human hearts, we worked. This is our lot: to work (Genesis 2:15). Work was originally intended to be a positive outpouring of our humanity. While our sin keeps us from fully experiencing this type of pure and beautiful work every day, the Lord instructs us through His Word to have joy in our work.

So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot.

Ecclesiastes 3:22a

You see, nothing you ultimately do will be remembered by other people. That’s a big pill to swallow. You worry over the unknown, stress over the details, and stay in this never-ending cycle until it runs you into the ground. Then you pass away, and nobody recalls your worry, stress, or burnout. But God recalls your diligence, goodness, kindness and peacefulness with others. God also recalls your stress, burnout, impatience and worry. God gives you joy to carry through every life season, whether a mountain or a valley.  

Ecclesiastes can seem depressing, but rather, it is enlightening. Go into your workday with joy, with happiness, because this is the life you’ve been given. Live your life to know God and enjoy the good things of this earth that He has given you. Don’t waste precious time on worry, doubt, or stress. Spend your life joyfully pursuing the opportunities God has gifted you.

Take a beat and ask the Lord for His joy to overcome your workweek.