Before the curse, God gave humans the gift of work out of love for His “very good” creation (Genesis 3). Adam and Eve worked out of selfless love for God to “subdue it and have dominion” over it’s creatures. It was good thing. Back then, work was pleasurable and easily glorifying to God.
However, after Adam and Eve slipped, convinced by the evil persuasion of Satan, work become a painful burden. It become a heavy sacrifice, rarely fulfilling to us and rarely glorifying to God. It remained this way until Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High, sacrificed himself, bearing everything to be cursed and forsaken even by His own Father, for you and for me. On that day at Calvary, work once again could be glorifying to God.
If you ever feel frustrated or unsatisfied with your work – work which God has provided – “be steadfast, immovable, always abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). God gives us a way to glorify him with our work, even through the difficult times. And this is our joy.
Today, in your job or in your studies, work for God, constantly remembering the sacrifice Christ made for you.
Dear Father. Thank you for loving me deeply, for giving up your only Son for my sins. I deserve only death, yet you give me life. Today, as I labor, let it not be in vain. Allow all of my frustrations and worries to dissolve as I seek you in prayer. May every ounce of my effort be wholeheartedly for you, that through all of my actions, you are honored and glorified. Grant me joy in this, Father, and may this be pleasing to you. Amen.