There once was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Saviour appeared to him.
The Lord told him He had a work for him to do, and showed him a large rock explaining that he was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, and for many days he toiled from sunup to sundown; his shoulder set squarely against the cold massive surface of the rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling his whole day had been spent in vain.
Seeing that the man showed signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture - placing thoughts in the man’s mind, such as ``Why kill yourself over this?, you’re never going to move it!’’ or ``Boy, you’ve been at it a long time and you haven’t even scratched the surface!’’ etc. giving the man the impression the task was impossible and the man was an unworthy servant because he wasn’t moving the massive stone.
These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man and he started to ease up in his efforts. ``Why kill myself?’’ he thought. ``I’ll just put in my time putting forth just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough.’’ And this he did or at least planned on doing until, one day, he decided to take his troubles to the Lord.
``Lord,’’ he said, ``I have labored hard and long in Your service, putting forth all my strength to do that which You have asked of me. Yet after all this time, I have not even budged that rock even half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?’’
To this the Lord responded compassionately, ``My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you to push against the rock with all your strength and that you have done. But never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. At least not by yourself.
Your task was to push. And now you come to Me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed, ready to quit. But is this really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled; your back sinewed and brown. Your hands are calloused from constant pressure and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and you
r ability now far surpasses that which you used to have. Yet still, you haven’t succeeded in moving the rock; and you come to Me now with a heavy heart and your strength spent. I, my friend will move the rock. Your calling was to be obedient and push, and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom, and this you have done.’
author unkown
I don’t know, I like my job, but I like time off more. Reading, watching movies, swimming, the bike trail. Work’s just got nothing to compare to those.
Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/laborday.htm
Labor Day is the invention of the unions. They were not satisfied with government setting a minimum wage they needed a ‘day’ to honor themselves. Anyone think for one moment that what God said means squat to the fathers of the union movement?
Before Enlightenment....Chop Wood, Carry Water. After Enlightenment....Chop Wood, Carry Water.
Work!
Thank God for the might of it,
The ardor, the urge, the delight of it-
Work that springs from the heart’s desire,
Setting the brain and the soul on fire-
Oh, what is so good as the heat of it,
And what is so glad as the beat of it,
And what is so kind as the stern command,
Challenging brain and heart and hand?
Work!
Thank God for the pride of it,
For the beautiful, conquering tide of it,
Sweeping the life in its furious flood,
Thrilling the arteries, cleansing the blood,
Mastering stupor and dull despair,
Moving the dreamer to do and dare.
Oh, what is so good as the urge of it,
And what is so good as the surge of it,
And what is so strong as the summons deep,
Rousing the torpid soul from sleep?
Excerpt from “Work: A Song of Triumph”
Angela Morgan, 1930
Or something.
Most people who are not lazy will work much harder playing than working, lazy people will not do either one any more than they have too.
Workaholics do not work because they love work, they do it because they want to get there.
Gen 2:15
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
I did a little of that when i was a kid and it is work.
I don,t know if god insists on people working or not, but since he tells us not to steal then maybe we should work to eat, on the other hand if some one would rather starve rather than work i have no problem with that.
That is why the usa was set up the way it was, so people could be free to work at what they wanted or what was necessary to make a living or even prosper.
And other people are free to sit on their behinds and go hungry.
That is why it should not be up to the Government to feed people, it should be up to the people to feed people because they know who can work and who can not work.
Even the most worthless cuss in the county will work if they have to but if you run over and feed them before they get hungry why would they have too.
I can not even imagine why any one would have to go through the Bible to try to determine if work is a punishment or not.