Is work a curse or a blessing?  I posted this question on my Facebook via Twitter: Are you going to work more or less because it’s the weekend?  

I was surprised by the difference in responses. I really just wondered if the weekend made things easier or harder for people. Do people have more or less responsibility on the weekend? Several people reminded me though that ministry is a blessing; not work. I completely agree that ministry is a blessing, but isn’t it also work?  If I can’t call it work, then I’m in trouble with 2 Thessalonians 3 and other passages I’m sure. 

The question wasn’t whether or not you enjoy your work, but whether you have to do more of it on the weekend, but the question remains, is work a curse or a blessing? Well, I’m thinking it could be a little of both.   Let me explain. Certainly the ability to work and the income, production and opportunities it provides is a blessing.  In a day when many are looking for work I’m very thankful to have a job. There are those during this economy who will learn how much a blessing any job is, just to be able to eat and provide for shelter.  

God created work and I actually enjoy it. Ministry is my work. God has called me to the vocational work of ministry and when I am doing the will of God I have an inner peace I can’t get any other way, so I love my work. 

At the same time, as I read Genesis 3, after the fall of man, the blessing of work was cursed.  Consider this: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground…” (Genesis 3:18-19)  

That doesn’t mean work is bad.  I think it just means that sometimes work is hard. Sometimes achieving the blessings from work come with sweat and labor. One of the reasons we dread Mondays is because of the curse upon work.  I don’t know of a pastor who wouldn’t agree that the work of ministry is difficult and messy; even as rewarding as it can be to help others. 

Other areas of our life became more difficult at the fall of man, didn’t they?  Marriage is wonderful.  God created marriage before the fall, but would anyone who is married say that a great marriage comes without a lot of hard “work”? 

All that said, even if your work is hard, I think the goal should still be to enjoy it, but that needs to be the subject of another post.  

That’s my opinion.  What’s yours? 

Related posts:

1. Can Non-Profit Work Encourage a Poor Work Ethic?
2. Do You Really Want This Marriage To Work?
3. Pray and Work: Encouragement During Difficult Days of Ministry
4. Doing Your Part To Make The Marriage Work
5. Balancing Work Ethic Encouragement