Today I would like to focus on a common problem in our country of which we may not be aware. Not sure why it’s not a focal point of the media, but it’s one that shows yet again that Biblical instruction has become ignored, even among God’s people. With this we can bet our country is headed in the wrong direction. Today I would like to focus on work. This article is inspired by a press release I read about FedEx’s huge delivery issues due to labor shortage. (https://finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/fed-ex-just-painted-a-disturbing-picture-of-the-job-market-160422695.html).

God’s word encourages - better yet demands that we work. God worked and on the seventh day He rested and the same is asked of us, His creation. Deuteronomy 5:13 says: Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Proverbs 6:9-11 clearly reveals what could and should happen when we don’t work: How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? (10) A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— (11) and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. Now I don’t want to be insensitive to the small percentage of the population who are physically or mentally unable. Understand these aren’t the people I’m addressing. The Bible asks us, as a church, to recognize and help those in these difficult circumstances. I’m addressing the obvious problem that is created when we as a society remove consequences for actions over which we have control. The article points out a very real problem in America: We have people that can and are able to work, but simply will not because the consequences of not working have been diminished by a government that seeks to make people dependent upon it, rather than on our Creator. So why shouldn’t people who can work … WORK?! It’s healthy for us, our family and society to work, and the Bible clearly supports this idea.

1. God gives us gifts to work.
Think of all the surgeons or food growers in the world. What if they decided they didn’t want to work any longer? We would have no food to sustain us. We would die because we couldn’t get a necessary surgery. Everything flows from God. He has created people with certain gifts and abilities to sustain His creation. To care for His creation. To be productive in some way to be a part of His plan for creation. People who waste the abilities that God has given them are called wicked and lazy. (Matthew 25:26-30)

2. Work develops our character and fulfills us.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12: For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.

When we aren’t using the abilities God has given us to be productive in society, we become what the Bible calls ‘busybodies.’ This means we are busy doing things that have no positive effect on society or our own lives. This is not only harmful to the busybody but affects all those around them - family, friends and society in general. It also keeps us from becoming who God intended us to be.

3. We work to provide for our family.
1 Timothy 5:8: Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Notice it doesn’t say anyone who doesn’t allow the government to provide for their family. God has blessed us with the ability to procreate. If we do so, it becomes our responsibility to provide for that with which we have been entrusted. There is no bigger responsibility for the adult who has brought children into this world than to raise them to understand this principal. To not teach them to be productive, working, functioning adults creates issues that can last for many generations. Proverbs 22:6: Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

4. We can help those who are truly in need.
Ephesians 4:28: Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

Government programs were put into place to help those who are truly in need. Yes, there are times when, due to no fault of our own, we are unable to work. There are still circumstances in which we are temporarily unable to work. And yes, there are situations in which we are not able to do certain types of work. At some point in life everyone needs a helping hand. But in our society today it’s become difficult to decipher who really is in need and who is not. I believe this is because the government has created a situation where it’s been made too easy to not seek employment. Ideally those who are able, should work regardless of what the government offers. But that’s not the case, so those who are truly unable, suffer. I say this because this is yet another example of ignoring the wisest instruction man has ever received: Instruction from our creator God in His word. Doing this is a mistake. It’s been proven throughout history and will be revealed yet again. It’s just another thing that will negatively affect everyone. So when you go to the store and it is out of your favorite thing, or when you go out to eat and have to wait a long time for a meal, (I actually went to Wendy’s the other day and they said I can only order two items for lack of staff) or when you call a customer service number and are on hold for hours, or even at Christmas when packages cost too much to send and take forever to arrive, don’t complain. Get into society and work. Be part of the solution, not the problem and as you do remember Colossians 3:23: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.

I can give you quite a few more points here but this forum has length restrictions. So, I will conclude with this: I encourage every child of God to go before Him in prayer and ask, “God, what would you have me do today to bring honor and glory to You? God, I know you have gifted me with gifts and abilities. How would You have me use them to build up my character and my testimony? How would You have me use them to provide now, or in the future, for my family, or those truly in need? How would You have me use them to become busy for Your creation and not a busybody for myself? I need Your strength to carry me and the wisdom of Your word to guide me. Amen.”

You will not be sorry. God promises you this in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God [a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.