It's
Off To Work We Go
Introduction:
In
the 1970s, the brother and sister duo called “The Carpenters”
sang a song entitled, “Rainy Days and Mondays”.
While the song is actually a love song, I find one line quite
descriptive of what we feel deep inside us when its raining or when
its Monday. It is the line in the chorus that goes “rainy days and
Mondays always get me down.” Why is it easy for us to relate to
this line? It's because that's what we feel like in relation to
either going to school or going to the office. During the rainy
season, when rain is pouring down early in the morning, we don't feel
like going to work
because the weather is cool and we just want to lie in
bed a bit longer. Besides, its so inconvenient to go to school or to
the office when its raining because you're sure to get wet,
especially if you're commuting. Who among you likes the feeling of
wet socks throughout the day? Now, regarding Mondays, some people
drag themselves to work
on that day because its the start of a new working week, after a day
or two of rest and fun. Its during the weekend that we get to sleep
longer, probably play sports, go to the mall, or even go on an
out-of-town trip. For some people, they probably wish that they
could just do those things all day long and for every single day of
the week. Thus, Monday, being the start of the work week, is also
the lowest point of the week for them. It is the day that they don't
have much energy. Some people have rightly surmised that when one
doesn't enjoy studying or working, then Mondays and rainy days will
definitely get such people feeling down and depressed.
There's
another song, this time from a 1937 Walt Disney animated movie
entitled, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”
which features the seven dwarves singing a song entitled “Heigh
Ho”. At the start of the song, the dwarves sang about digging in
the mines the whole day through,
and that they enjoy what they're doing, even though they have no idea
why they're digging them from the mines in the first place. However,
the attitude of the dwarves toward work is something to be admired,
for they enjoyed what they were doing. In another scene, as the
dwarves were beginning their workday at the mine, they were singing
Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, its off to work we go. They were happy
about going to work.
We
could say that these two songs depict the attitude of people towards
work. Some enjoy working, others dread it. Some look forward to
Mondays while others prefer that everyday be Saturday or Sunday.
Today, we continue our study on the Book of Proverbs and we will look
carefully at the subject of work. This is an important subject
because all of us do work – if not in an office, then probably in a
school environment as students, studying and doing homework.
Thankfully, Proverbs has a lot of wonderful teaching regarding work
and our attitude towards it. But before we look at what Proverbs has
to say, let me just briefly share with you what theologians or Bible
scholars call as the “theology of work”.
On
the very first page of the Bible, we learn that God is a God who
works. He created the heavens and the earth, and everything in them,
in six days. On almost all occasion, immediately after he had
finished creating something, God would comment that his work was
good. When he created Adam, he put Adam to work. In Genesis 2:15,
we find the Lord giving Adam the task of tending the garden or to be
a gardener. The implication, according to some Bible commentators,
is that God designed the garden of Eden in such a way that it will
flourish when man is cultivating and tending it. Adam was also
tasked to name all the animals (Genesis 2:19) that were brought
before him by God. God allowed Adam to participate in making what
was a perfect creation become even more beautiful. God had intended
for work to be something that brought joy and pleasure for Adam.
Unfortunately, when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and
sinned against God, the ground was cursed,
making it hard for Adam and Eve to work productively. Notice that it
is not work itself that is cursed, but rather, the ground on which
they would work on. What used to be a delight when they were still
in the garden became drudgery because of the conditions that would
surround work.
Although
all of us don't work in farms,
but we must admit that work is difficult even in an office
environment.
Being productive and profitable are difficult things to do. Yet,
the fact remains that God has mandated work to be the primary means
by which are enabled to survive physically. Unfortunately, we have
wrongfully equated work with the curse, thus we want to avoid working
as much as possible. The Book of Proverbs will actually straighten
us out by helping us to see the wrong attitude we bring towards work
and by pointing to us what right attitude we must have when we go to
the office or the workplace.
Wrong
Attitudes We Should Never Bring to Work
What
are some of the wrong attitudes that we bring with us to work,
according to the Book of Proverbs? I want to share with you three
wrong attitudes we must never bring with us to work. There are
probably more but I will limit myself to three, in the interest of
time.
A. Laziness
Laziness
is one of the most prevalent negative attitude in our society. It is
so prevalent that here in the Philippines we have a folklore whose
main character is named Juan Tamad. I confess that there are
numerous moments when I feel lazy; that I would prefer to do
something else other than be in the office. There are moments when I
want to say something like, “I'll do it later” or “I'll
do it someday”. So, why is laziness a wrong attitude that
should never be brought to the workplace? Let's look at what
Proverbs has to say about laziness. Because of the time, I will just
point out three major reasons why laziness needs to be avoided.
(1) Laziness
brings poverty and ruin
How long will
you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A
little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to
rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an
armed man.
Proverbs 6:9 - 11
I went past the field of a
sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; thorns had
come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone
wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned
a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little
folding of the hands to rest — and poverty will come on you like a
thief and scarcity like an armed man.
Proverbs 24:30 – 34
When
all you want to do in life is to rest and do nothing, before you know
it, you will end up becoming poor. The logic here is simple. If you
go out and work, you have income. If you have income, you can
provide for your daily needs and save some money for emergency
purposes. If you are lazy and you refuse to work, then there is no
income. What you have will be spent until you have nothing.
Laziness can make you poor.
(2) Laziness
brings disgrace
He
who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest
is a son who brings shame.
Proverbs
10:5
In
an agricultural economy like that of Israel in Solomon's time,
harvesting was usually done during summer. Every father would want
for his son to help out in the farm by helping gather the harvest.
But if his son chooses to sleep during the harvest time, this could
cause the loss of the harvest and bring poverty to the whole family,
if the father does not have enough workers to get the job done. If
the family becomes poor as a result of the son's laziness, then he is
the one to blame for bringing shame to the family, for making the
father “lose
face”.
The laziness of the son will also give the people who see and know
him a bad taste in their mouths as well as a negative impression
towards the son.
- Laziness is irritating to others
Like
vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard
to those who send him.
Proverbs
10:26
If
you have someone who is lazy who works with you or is your classmate,
you know how irritating they can be. In Proverbs 10:26, the context
is work. The employer sends the sluggard or the lazy person on an
errand. The irritation comes because the lazy person makes no
attempt to come back immediately or he does a very poor job because
he has the mentality of “puede
na 'to”.
I am sure some students have experienced this when they have a lazy
classmate who joins his or her group for a project or when writing a
group thesis. They're the kind who actually don't do much to help
but they'll take the credit if the project passes or if the thesis
passes the scrutiny of the panel interviewers. If the project is a
flop or the thesis is given a failing grade, the lazy people are the
ones who'll blame you for the failure. Laziness is an irritating
thing that one has to deal with in school and in the workplace.
B. All
Talk But No Action
All
hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Proverbs
14:23 [CLICK]
The
second wrong attitude we must never bring to work is that of being
“all
talk but no action”.
Have you ever met people who have lots of bright ideas but can't get
anything done with it? It is because such people are mere talkers.
They like to talk and talk about work but they don't get anything
done. There is nothing wrong with expressing your ideas, but at the
end of the day, you have to get something done. You have to put your
ideas into motion. One thing I admire about entrepreneurs is that
they know how to put their plans into action. They don't just share
their ideas verbally, but they use their talk to get people to invest
in their ideas and then they put in the hard work in order to make
sales and bring in the profits. Contrast that with some people who
talk a lot about their plans of becoming rich but do nothing to move
toward that direction.
- Excuse Makers
The
third wrong attitude is somewhat related to laziness. It is the
wrong attitude of always making excuses or always giving reasons why
something should not be done. In Proverbs 22:13 we find this - -
The
sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!” or, “I will be
murdered in the streets!”
We
probably have these kinds of people in the workplace. They are the
kind who are unwilling to take risks in order to gain profit or to
rise up the corporate ladder. They would say things like, “its
impossible”
or “I
can't do it”,
when clearly it is something that is possible and doable. We bring
the same attitude to church. When some people are asked to pray,
their excuse is, “I
don't know how”,
even though they've been Christians for more than ten years already.
When you ask them to help in a ministry, they also say “I
don't know how”
or “let
the pastor do it”
as a convenient excuse from having to serve the Lord. We should
never bring the wrong attitude of always making excuses to our work
or to our studies. We must learn to take responsibility and do what
can be done on our part.
Right
Attitudes We Should Bring To Work
Having
looked at the wrong attitudes of laziness, mere talk and no action,
and excuse-making, let's now look at the right attitudes we should
always bring to work. Again, because of time constraint, I will
limit myself to three right attitudes for us to work with.
A. Realize
That Work is God's Primary Way of Supplying Our Needs
Whoever
works his land will have plenty of bread, but
he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.
Proverbs
12:11 (ESV)
We
hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are
busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ
to settle down and earn the bread they eat.
2
Thessalonians 3:11 – 12
God
has ordained that work is the primary means by which He supplies us
with our everyday need. Now, you may argue that God did allow manna
to fall from heaven in order to feed the Israelites in the wilderness
and he did send quails to them for meat, but we forget that they
still had to do the work of gathering the manna and the quails. God
is a gracious good who supplies all our needs but don't expect that
his provision will always be miraculous. Adam and Eve, before they
were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, had to work for their food.
If they wanted something to eat, they had to reach out and take hold
of a fruit from a tree.
I
am the kind of person who does not believe in the idea of welfare.
Now, I am not talking about our welfare fund which is used to help
people in need; rather, I am talking about people who choose
unemployment knowing that they're going to receive welfare checks
from the government. We see this in the States; people who have lost
their jobs stop looking for employment because the welfare system is
paying them. That is downright wrong and against God's plan that
work is His primary means of supplying our needs. While we are able
to, we should work.
B. Grow
Your Skills
Do
you see a man skillful in his work? He
will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
Proverbs
22:29
The
second thing we should bring to our work is the attitude of growth.
In Proverbs 22:29, the man who is skillful with his work will
eventually rise in the ranks. It must be our aim to improve our
skills at work. Now, understand that the goal is not about getting a
promotion. A promotion for being proficient with your skills is the
result. Your goal should be because you want to give your very best
when you work. Thus, it is important to grow your skills. When you
grow your skills, you become better at work. When you become better
at work, your employer will notice you and will give you greater
opportunities to grow further in the workplace.
A
TV show I like watching is the TLC show “Cake Boss”
which features a
baker named Buddy Valastro. What I enjoy about the show is that
Buddy and his team are challenged each week to make beautiful cakes,
and they rise to the occasion by coming up with beautiful cakes. It
is no wonder high profile people have Buddy make their cakes such as
when Haagen-Daaz celebrated its 50th
anniversary.
He also made a cake in the shape of a car for a Baker's Convention.
If Buddy never grew his skills when he started as a baker, then he
would never be able to bring the bakery business to where it is now.
He would never be popular with couples who want a perfect wedding
cake, or with organizations who want a spectacular cake for an
important occasion.
- Be Diligent
Finally,
be diligent when you work. In Proverbs 10:4 we read, “Lazy
hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. ”.
What is diligence? Diligence simply means we must be industrious or
hardworking. It means we must put concentrated effort to what we are
doing. We must give of our very best when we work or study. When we
are focused and we work hard, we will prosper. When a student
studies hard and prepares well for his exams, he will most likely ace
the exams or at least pass it. When an employee is industrious at
all times and not just when the boss is around, he will be able to do
much and he will prosper greatly. Furthermore, a diligent person is
many times more likely to be promoted.
Many of
the successful entrepreneurs in the Philippines became wealthy
because they worked hard. Those who hold positions of power in big
corporations came to that post because they worked hard in their
younger years. Diligence in both work and study will bring success.
Be diligent in whatever you do.
Conclusion:
When
you go to the workplace or to school, what attitude do you bring with
you? Are those attitudes negative or are they positive? Are we lazy,
always talking but not doing anything, and always making excuses, or
are we diligent, always aiming for improvement with the mindset that
work is God's primary way of providing for our needs? I hope that it
is the latter mindset that you have.
To
conclude, let me remind you of what Paul says regarding work. It's
found in Colossians 3:23 - -
Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not
for men.
Remember
that what you do, whether in the office working or in the classroom
studying, is all about bringing glory to God. Let everything we do
be marked by excellence because this brings pleasure to God.
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