Joy in Working: Labor Day

   It is Labor Day, a day that we think about not working. But, I'm going to rain on your parade and talk about work. I am a teacher and a coach. Therefore, I hear a lot of complains about work whether that be from co-workers, students, or players. Why do I hear so many complaints? Should I hear so many complaints?
   Way back, at the beginning of time and the creation of the universe, God made everything and it was good (Genesis 1). God is smart and caring. He did not create anything that did not serve a purpose in the universe or on earth. He created Adam to have dominion over all the earth. In Genesis 2:15 we read why Adam was put in the Garden: "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."
   Hold up, Adam had to work before the fall? Yes, and since God created everything and said that "it was good" then that means work is good. We don't read much about Adam working in the Garden before the fall but we do know that he named the animals, which was a job God gave him. Do you think Adam complained about it? No, Adam was happy to be given a purpose/job. He got to be a leader on earth and walk with the ultimate leader/boss.
   What happened? How did we get from being joyful in our work to complaining? The answer is the fall, and sin. Work suddenly got really difficult because Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. Genesis 3:17-19 says: "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
   Thus, we began to have hard work. That is why we complain about work. It is hard and it hurts our bodies. Yet, God created it to be good. When children grow up what do they do? They get a job. Even when children are little they work by doing chores or finding odd jobs to make money. Work is to be a good thing. Should we complain about doing work? No, because God created it to be good. 

   So, do you complain too much about work? What can you do to find joy in work?

   Image from here.