The general Biblical view is that work is meant to bring us closer to- God and to our fellow men.

Work in the Old Testament.

In Genesis 1 and 2, God is shown as a worker, He created the World and everything in it. Creating was a great work. We must also work because work comes from God - it is God ordained.

In Genesis 1:26 - 31, God created man in his own image. He gave him intelligence and resources and commanded him to be fruitful, multiply, fill the world, conquer and sub-due it. This means that man is a co-creator with God. He was treated and put in an unfinished world. He must complete the creation process by adding beauty to the already created things. He can only do this through work. Hence, man's role of co-creation involves making this world a better place to live in by working hard.

Man was placed in the garden of Eden and was commanded to cultivate it (Genesis 2:15). Man was created to labour/work. In order to survive, man has to sweat as given in Genesis 3:17, Hence work is not a curse from God but a blessing since it enables us to obtain the necessities of life.         

Israelites were very hard working people and through this they became a strong nation- with God's favours on them of course. Even before becoming God's chosen nation, they were hard workers. This led to their prosperity in Egypt and made the Egyptians to become jealousy of them. The occupations of the Israelites included: cultivation, looking after anima1s (sheep, goats and cattle), Carpentry, serving God as priests, prophets and so on.

Among the Israelites, a hard workingman was praised while a lazy person was condemned (proverbs 6:6-10). Daytime was always for working.

The laws of the Israelites called for fair treatment of workers.  Deuteronomy 24:14-15 calls upon the masters not to oppress the workers. Workers shouldn't be exploited- they should 'be given their pay. Hence a spirit of brother hood in work.

Deuteronomy 24: 19 called upon the Israelites to share some of the fruits of their labour with the strangers, widows and orphans.

The Israelites society stressed the value of co-operation and togetherness  in work. In Ezra 3, a very good picture is given when the, Israelites were working together to rebuild the temple.

The Israelite society stressed hard work but also called upon Israelites to rest after working. In Genesis 2:2, God rested after working and following in his foot steps, the Israelites always rested on the seventh day/Sabbath day. Exodus 20:8-11 called up on the Israelites to do their work in six days and to relax on the seventh day.

The Old Testament warns against selfish aims in work.

In Genesis 4:1-8, Cain became jealousy of his Brother Abel's work and killed him. God punished him heavily for this evil, hence a warning against killing others because of their good work.

Another case of failure in work is given in Genesis 11 when men built the tower of Babel without seeking for God's advice. Instead of doing God's work of co-creation on earth, they wanted to run away and stay with God in heaven. They trusted their technology and progress and ignored God' s commandment God disorganised them for this.

The Pharaohs of Egypt are also condemned for oppressing the Israelites by over working them.

King Solomon had many building projects and he forced fellow Israelites to work on them (1 Kings 5: 13-18). Forced labour by Solomon was a failure in work Note that even King Jehoiakim exploited fellow Israelites through work.

The Old Testament prophets were sent by God to protect the workers from exploitation. Prophets condemned the unfilthy ways of getting rich by employers, condemned over-taxation) and underpayment and condemned all types of unethical work such as slave trading and prostitution. For example, Amos 5:9-20 and Jeremiah 22: 13 - 17 condemned the exploitation of workers.

xii) Despite the problems encountered in work and by workers, God was, willing to help the Israelites to understand. the original value of work.

 Work in the New Testament

The New Testament gospels present Jesus as a worker, He was born by working parents and was taught the value of work. As a boy, he worked with his foster father Joseph from whom he learnt the skills of carpentry.

Jesus is referred to as a carpenter in Mark 6:3". Jesus also helped his mother Mary with domestic chores.

Jesus', most known work was working for the Kingdom of God. This involved the work of teaching, preaching and performing miracles, walking long distances on foot and so on. While teaching about the Kingdom of God,  Jesus always referred to different types of work such as fishing, sowing, vine dressing, shepherding and so on. (Mathew 4:19, Mark 4:3; John 15:1; John 10:1-3)' Comparing the Kingdom of God to different types of work shows that there is value in all types of work and that everyone can help to spread the good news at his/her place of work- by working according to Christian standards.

Jesus called for good working relationship between the employers and employees (Mathew 18:23-27).

Jesus called for the values of honesty and reliability in work in Mathew 21:28-31. He-also called for solidarity and co-operation in work. Jesus blessed workers who work for peace and justice .(Mathew 5:9)

Jesus gave the parable of talents in Mathew 25:14-30 in which he strongly encouraged people to put their talents into practise by working. The two hard working servants benefited while the lazy one lost the little he had been given. Hence Jesus discouraged-laziness.

Jesus goes on in Mathew 25:31-46 and teaches that to refuse to serve others using one's talents is cut to oneself from God and fellow men.

Jesus used to balance work and leisure. He observed the Sabbath like any other Jew and on other days of the week he used to work, rest and pray. Hence teaching that leisure is part of work.      

Jesus encouraged hard work amongst his disciples and taught the value of delegation of work- decentralising work. After training his disciples, Jesus sent them out to go and preach, cure diseases, and so on (Mark 6:7-13) He sent them out two by two hence encouraging co-operation in work. His sending them out also shows the value of delegating duties.

Jesus calls upon his followers not only to work for basic necessities but also to reserve time to work for the expansion of the Kingdom of God.

Work is not always easy. It demands sacrifice. St. Paul teaches that we should always have hope in work, despite the difficulties we may encounter.

Paul encouraged Christians to work very hard so as to avoid laziness and being parasites. In 2 Thessalonians 3: 10, he warns that those who do not want to work shou1d not eat.

St. Paul provided himself as a role model for other Christians to follow.

He was a very hard workingman who preached the gospel fully and also reserved some time to make tents (Acts 18:3; 20:34; I Cor. 4: 12). He enjoyed working with his hands and never regarded it as a curse. He was like Jesus who preached and did some carpentry as well.

Paul discouraged the anti-social attitudes in work. In Ephesians 4:2.8 Paul discourages a thief from stealing and advised him to work according to Christian standards.

We were created to work and make the World a better place to live in. Without work there cannot be a future. Those who become rich out of good work shouldn't worry about entering the Kingdom of God. But those who get riches from bloody deals will miss the Kingdom of God.