"A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied"           (Proverbs 13:4).

Back in school once one committed an offence among the most severe punishments was to send you down the kitchen to work. Or you could be asked to go down the road and scoop piles of murum then make several trips up and down in a creaky wheelbarrow. This kind of "forced labour" would hopefully make one to repent and get you back on the right course of action.

So, depending on where you are there are certain interpretations of work. For someone from my school background to engage in work was a form of punishment. Leisure was the ideal; work was the worst to happen. After all, when Adam sinned he was told , "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life"  (Genesis 3:11).

While there is a point in all this there are certain other illuminating points about work. We know that God worked six days to create the earth, "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"  (Genesis 2:2). This means the leisure came only after work.

Perhaps it was for this reason why the Apostle Paul admonished the believers "For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat". (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Of course from this it is clear there was a rush on some to enjoy leisure whose fruits can only be experienced after work.

The great Biblical characters were all men and women of work. For instance, Moses worked up to his old age of 120 until God finally called him. While the Apostle Paul was going about his ministry, he made it a point not to burden his hosts, Aquilla and Priscilla, for, "because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade" (Acts 18:3).

Just as it were we ought all to have the right attitude about work, and not dread it, for through it God enhances His purposes.

Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, I thank you for the work you have given me, through which I can worship and thank you for being part of beautiful creation, this I pray in Jesus' name.