Last week Sophie showed us why to avoid idleness, but I wanted to go to the other extreme. Even though its summer, for many people, like me, it is a time of more work that normal! (How ironic) And what place should work have in our lives? When do we know if we are over worked? Obviously I am going to use the Holy Word of God to answer these question, and hopefully yours too! :)
What place should work have in our lives?
Ecclesiastes 3:12-13
I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.
Work is a gift from God! He gave it to us so that we may "eat and drink, and find satisfaction." A few verses before the ones above, Solomon says that there is a time for everything. We see that during the creation week even God took a break. God didn't have to rest, but He did this to show us how to be satisfied with our work. Work, like everything, has a place in our lives. We have to be able to distinguish when work begins taking over other areas of our life, like our time with our family, our health, or even our time with God. Work should not be placed before God, obviously. And as long as our health is not being affected by the effects of our work, then we are Ok. If you don't have your health, you don't have anything. But when should work be placed before, and after family? Work is a mean of supporting yourself and your family, so your family should know that work is a priority, but when there is a situation that needs immediate attention, work has to be sacrificed. Like when your mother is in the hospital, or you have family over for a short time. Work should not be seen as a way to have a nice life. It should be seen as a way to be blessed, and a way of survival.
How is it that we know when we are overworked?
Knowing when you are overworked is really easy to see when you know what place it has in your life. If other areas of your life are suffering because of your working, then you have a problem. I understand that there are sacrifices when you go out to work, but there is a balance to everything. If you see that your relationship with God is lacking because of the extra hours you are putting in to buy a new T.V. then something is not right. What is more important? That new 64" 3-D T.V, or your relationship with God almighty?
Oh, one more thing. School can also be seen as work. There is no real difference between those two.
Maybe you have some questions about work?
-Jerry
hmmm, so true! I often focus on not being idle, but alot of times I forget the extreme. I become very busy with many different things. These are all good things, but often times, too much of a good thing will turn everything sour. Sometimes, I get so busy helping around the house, practicing the piano, doing school, and working at my dad's office and focus so hard on it, that I get behind on important things.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget a week about a few months ago that was terribly busy. I was working at my dad's office, trying to advance 2 levels of piano, getting ahead in math (and who knows what else!) that I forgot to study my Sunday School lesson. I felt such guilt that Saturday night as I realized that during the week, I had spent time with God and did do lots of great things, but I hadn't focused on prioritizing my time. I hadn't studied my lesson, was really tired, and went really under-prepared to church the following day. After that, I firmly decided never to let that happen again. So, although I don't always succeed, I really try to get some of the more important things (like Sunday school preparation :P ) done early in the week. :)
Thanks for the reminder, Jerry! It's so important to prioritize and keep in mind that both extremes are terrible. It's especially important to learn it now as we're all young since the older we get, the more work we'll be responsible to do and it'll be harder to manage our time correctly. :)