Do you remember in Genesis when God created humanity and commanded them to cultivate the ground? That story took place before sin entered the world and tells us work isn’t bad. The Hebrew word for work is avodah. It can also mean service.
Moreover, God didn’t just create farmers. Throughout the rest of the Bible, we see Him calling people to do all sorts of avodah. God gifts priests, kings, and warriors. He also calls His people into ministry who have all kinds of day jobs like making tents, herding sheep, composing music, and doing business.
We all avodah in different ways, whether we are laborers, servers, artists, or worshipers. I would like to think my blog is labor, service, art, and worship. I use these words to describe the bits and pieces of who I am and what I do. For example, writing is my work. Writing is my service to others. Writing is my art. Writing is my worship to God. You, too, should identify your crafts. Remember, these may change over time. Ask yourself, how do you work, serve, or worship? In the next few blog posts, we will discuss these very topics.
Today, we are discussing work from the perspective of labor. In Genesis 2:15, “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” It is the same word in Exodus 20:9, in the Ten Commandments, “Six days you shall work….” Six days you shallavodah.
I am humbled that the Potter placed in my heart the zeal to blog again. I kid you not, blogging is a lot of avodah (and it’s less fun than it is labor). A disciplined effort is required while writing, editing, and choosing the perfect picture and title for each of my articles. I wrestle with the slow Wi-Fi and resist the urge to go back to America because Google is blocked in China. I spend about an hour to format each blog on WordPress. I make sure all my readers and subscribers can click on every link on the email and on my website. I avodah hard!
I know God used quarantine to inspire my return to blogging. Yes, there are times when my patience is tested. Still, I am continually learning to trust and obey God even when He tells me to avodah instead of rest.
I trust my work will be laid on His foundation. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” 1 Corinthians 3:11.
What has God called you to do? In other words, what is your gift? Will you shine for the Potter as he polishes you? Will you be faithful to your work?