What the Bible Says About Work-

The following is taken from http://www.wooddaleatwork.org/ a work ministry at Wooddale Church of Edina, MN. If you ever had any doubt about the integration of your faith and your work-life, this should relieve that doubt.


There Is An Inheritance and Reward for Being Faithful to Our Work

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. Col 3:23-24 (NKJV)
Biblical Insights on Work

New Testament –
Of Jesus’ 132 public appearances in the NT, 122 were in the marketplace / workplace.
Of 52 parables Jesus told, 45 had a workplace context. Of 40 divine interventions recorded in Acts, 39 were in the marketplace / workplace.

Jesus spent his adult life as a carpenter until age 30 before he went into a preaching ministry in the workplace. Jesus called 12 workplace individuals, not clergy, to build His church.

Work is Worship - The Hebrew word "Avodah" is the root for the word from which we get the words work and worship.

Work in its different forms is mentioned more than 800 times in the Bible, more than all the words used to express worship, music, praise, and singing combined.

“54% of Jesus’ reported teaching ministry arose out of issues posed by others” in the scope of daily life experience. – Lewis and Lewis, LICC

What the Bible Says about Work

God Is a Worker
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. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. Gen 2:2-3 (NKJV)

God Worked Six Days a Week
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. Exodus 20:9,10 (NKJV)

God Would Perform Miracles through Moses’ Work
"But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it." Ex 4:17 (NIV)

The First Man in the Bible Described as being filled with the Spirit of God was a Craftsman.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 "And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 "to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, 5 "in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship. 6 "And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all who are gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 "the tabernacle of meeting, the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tabernacle-- 8 "the table and its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, 9 "the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base-- 10 "the garments of ministry, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests, 11 "and the anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you they shall do." Ex 31:1-11 (NKJV)

God Blessed the Work of Job’s Hands
You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 1 Job 1:10b (NKJV)

God Used Workmen to Build the Temple
"Moreover there are workmen with you in abundance: woodsmen and stonecutters, and all types of skillful men for every kind of work. 16 "Of gold and silver and bronze and iron there is no limit. Arise and begin working, and the LORD be with you." 1 Chron 22:15-16 (NKJV)

God Gives Us a Desire for the Work We Do
You shall call, and I will answer You; You shall desire the work of Your hands. Job 14:15 (NKJV)

When We Do Our Work, We Find a Reward in Doing It
For He repays man according to his work, And makes man to find a reward according to his way. Job 34:11 (NKJV)

God Reveals God’s Work to Us
He seals the hand of every man, That all men may know His work. Job 37:7 (NKJV)

God’s Work Involved the Creation of the Universe
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? Psalms 8:3-4 (NKJV)

God Establishes Our Work
Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children. 17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalms 90:16-17 (NKJV)

God Warns Against Slothful Work
He who is slothful in his work Is a brother to him who is a great destroyer. Prov 18:9 (NKJV)

God Honors Those Who Do Good Work. They Will Stand Before Kings.
Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men. Prov 22:29 (NKJV)

There Is a Time For Every Work
I said in my heart, "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work." Eccl 3:17 (NKJV)

We Are to Find Satisfaction in Our Labor
Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. Eccl 2:24 (NKJV)

Our Labor is a Gift of God
I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor--it is the gift of God. Eccl 3:12-13 (NKJV)

Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. 19 As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor--this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart. Eccl 5:18-20 (NKJV)

Labor Alone Will Not Satisfy the Cry of the Soul
All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied. Eccl 6:7 (NKJV)

Jesus Had a Work to Do
"I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 John 9:4-6 (NKJV)

Jesus Had a Work to Do that Brought Glory to the Father
"I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. John 17:4 (NKJV)

Jesus Came to Help Us with the Burden of Labor
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matt 11:28-30 (NKJV)

God Calls Us to Examine Our Work
For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For each one shall bear his own load. Gal 6:3-5 (NKJV)

Our Labor in the Lord is Not in Vain
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Cor 15:58 (NKJV)

Our Labor Is Designed to Allow Us to Help Meet Other’s Needs
Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Eph 4:28 (NKJV)

God Calls Us to Work in Order to Provide for Our Families
For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. 2 Thess 3:10-12 (NKJV)

We Were Created to do Good Works
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10 (NKJV)

There Is A Reward for Doing Our Work Well
"And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work." Rev 22:12 (NKJV)

Our Work is a Ministry through Our Gifts and Calling
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Eph 4:11-16 (NKJV)

All that We Do Is a Ministry Unto the Lord – Including Our Work
Let every detail in your lives— words, actions, whatever— be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Col 3:17 (Message)


And lastly I would add that we are created TO WORK-
Gen 2: 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”