The Christian Life

Work and leisure

The Bible is the Word of God. His word portrays who He is. And I find it fascinating reading from the book of Genesis 1&2 how God's attribute of order is displayed. I'd love to phrase it this way,' The God of Order '

However, let us focus on work and leisure.

Work
Work is defined as labour or occupation it can also be defined as sustained effort to achieve a goal or result.

From Genesis 1&2 I picked 5 Pillars of Work.

1. Goal setting

[1]IN THE beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned, and) created the heavens and the earth. [Heb. 11:3.]
[2]The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2

The earth being formless provided an opportunity for something to be done.

And God seeing the need he had a goal of what He wanted to do. That is to bring form to the earth.

The same applies to us when we become independent there arises a need to work to satisfy our needs.

Work also applies to students and anyone else if we define it as sustained effort to achieve a goal.

Therefore, it is necessary to first define what you desire to do before proceeding to work. And that defining is actually setting a goal!

Setting goals ensures you hit the nail rather than move around the bush with no direction.

And also for a reminder put it down in a visible place.

I've heard people talk about vision boards and I think it helps a great deal.

2. Plan on how to achieve the goal
God created the heavens and the earth in 6days.
Day 1: Day and Night
Day 2: He created a firmament(Heavens) separating the waters above from the waters below.
Day 3: Earth(dry land) and seas.
             Plants yielding seeds and fruit    trees yielding fruits.
Day 4: Heavenly bodies
Day 5:Living creatures
Day 6: Man. He made them both male and female.

And this is why I call him the God of order. His plan was organised. One day at a time and one thing after the other in order of urgency.

Man came into the picture after all the things that would benefit him were put into place.

The light, vegetation,fruits, the water, the heavenly bodies to mark seasons and days, dry land to walk on...Can you see the picture?

God didn't create everything in one day not that He is not able to of course He is  because He is God Almighty.

But I believe what He did set a good example for the mankind. It is something that we can apply as we plan on how to accomplish our goals.

And that leads us to the next thing.

3. Patience
People are always eager to get to the end of something before it even starts.

That's an issue of patience and probably the reason why many goals are either unaccomplished or prematurely met.

However, I have learnt something worth giving it a try and that is from God's attribute of order and patience.

(Illustration: Let me focus on accomplishing this task first that I am able to do now considering time and other resources, before proceeding to another one.)

4. Approve what you've done so far no matter how little it might be.  

(...Giving thanks to God for He enabled you. Not by might and not by strength but by His Spirit.)

[21]God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (suitable, admirable) and He approved it.
G

enesis 1:21
And God saw that it was good...
That's approving work.

Thumbs up!
That's an improvement!
A positive outlook towards your achievements is key to achieving even  greater goals. It gives you a push to try it again and see the next change or result or an improvement.

It doesn't matter how small the difference might be as long as it makes a step towards what you are aiming at.

Accept small beginnings and work on improving as you move on.

5.Discipline
The temptation to drift from work and rest a bit is real.This is where discipline comes in. To ensure that you complete the task before taking  rest and this is possible if one had set reasonable targets.

Now every beginning has an end.

[1]THUS THE heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
[2]And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. [Heb. 4:9, 10.]
Genesis 2:1-2

After God ended His work which He had done; He RESTED.

Work came first before rest.Again He first ended His work before resting.

Therefore, now you can tell setting priorities right is something that God embraced and so should we His children as we walk in his example.

Leisure
Free time from work or duties.
Taking rest after work is very important and I believe that is what God wants us to understand.

We've got to find out the danger of not working and over working.

Health fitness is one of the benefits of leisure or some may prefer to call it rest. But again how are we spending our leisure time. What do we do when we are free?

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Genesis 2:3

What should I do in my free time?

God made it holy.
That is a representation of how leisure time should be spent. To sum it all, let all we do in our leisure time center on God.

Something that will propel you closer to Him in understanding and in love.

In a nutshell, work is important and it is supported by the 5pillars discussed above.

Rest is equally important but should come after completing work.

And this all is pictured in Genesis 1&2, from the unique attributes of God that is order and patience.
He is the 'God Of Order'
Blessed be His holy name.
Amen.

May the grace of God and His peace be with you always.
And all the Glory belongs to God alone.
Amen.