Worship in the Workplaceنموونە

‘Abad’

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. - Gen 2:15

God intended us to work.

The first mention of the word 'work' in the Bible is the word 'Abad'. It means to cultivate, till, work or serve. However, interestingly, this word also carries the meaning of 'worship'. The first form of worship mentioned in the Bible was the word that also meant ‘to work’. Doesn't that make you stop and think? God didn't build a church and place man there to worship – instead, He created a garden, and put man there to work in it. As Adam served God in the garden, he was also worshipping Him by doing the work God put in front of him. Working for God is at the heart of worshipping God.

Day 2 Challenge: Set an alarm on your phone ever so often to help you remember that today your workplace can be a place of worship. These alarms should help you remember to speak kindly; to encourage someone near you or do anything else that can showcase that God intended us to worship Him through our work. One thing to be careful of, however, is to not allow work to take the place of worship. It should be an expression of worship, but it should not become the thing that we worship! God is always our one and only object of worship. Work is a tool through which we worship Him.

God created man with the purpose of working and taking care of the garden. Are you taking care of your 'garden'? Are you being intentional about allowing God to create through you? God, the Almighty, the most creative being, is waiting to work through you today. Allow Him to use your gifts and talents at work today, so that His name alone will be glorified.

‘When God wanted sponges and oysters He made them and put one on a rock and the other in the mud. When He made man He did not make him to be a sponge or an oyster; He made him with feet and hands, and head and heart, and vital blood, and a place to use them and He said to him, “Go work.”’ - Henry Ward Beecher

Father, enable me to faithfully work at my assigned tasks and worship You, every day.