Work and Stewardship
An image of Psalm 23 (King James' Version), frontispiece to the 1880 omnibus printing of The Sunday at Home. Scanned at 800 dpi. Français : Illustration du Psaume 23 (version autorisée par le roi Jacques), en frontispice de l'édition omnibus du Sunday at home. Version numérisée à 800 dpi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)"Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening." (Psalm 104:23)The 104th Psalm is a beautiful psalm of creation and the Flood, supplemented by God's providential care of His creatures in the post-Flood world. Our text makes man's activity seem almost incidental in the grand scope of God's activities on behalf of His whole creation.
Nevertheless, it reminds us of God's first great commission to mankind concerning that creation. "Have dominion . . . over all the earth . . . to dress it and to keep it" (Genesis 1:26; 2:15). This primeval mandate, though still in effect as man's stewardship responsibility for the earth and its creatures, has been seriously impacted by sin and the curse. "Cursed is the ground for thy sake," God told Adam; "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" (Genesis 3:17, 19).
And so it is that men (women, too!) must work, and the work often is laborious, and stressful, and unappreciated. Yet the divine rule is "that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands . . . That ye may walk honestly . . . and that ye may have lack of nothing" (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). "For . . . if any would not work, neither should he eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
Thus labor is necessary, even for those who don't know the Lord. But it is far better if we work, not just to earn a living, but to please the Lord. "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men" (Colossians 3:23).
Whatever our job may be (assuming it is an honorable occupation), it can be regarded as serving Christ and as helping to fulfill His primeval-dominion commandment, and even as helping to lead others to know Him. Therefore, whether the work is easy, or hard, we should be "always abounding in the work of the Lord . . . your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).
