Made to Work
Scripture Reading — Genesis 1:26-31
God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
I have a photo of a friend pushing his lawnmower across his lawn. He was doing his best to make sure each row lined up with the previous one. The highlight of the snapshot, however, wasn’t my friend. In the foreground his young son was pushing a toy lawnmower, working just as hard and just as focused, navigating his mower in the pattern of his father.
Genesis 1 tells us about God, the very first worker, who labors joyfully to build the world from nothing. And on the sixth day of creation comes the pinnacle of God’s creative work as he designs human beings. Men and women stand apart in creation as the only creatures fashioned in God’s image. We reflect God, patterning him in our ability to reason, to feel, to love—and, yes, to work.
Immediately after we are told that God made humans in his image, we find that God commissioned them to work—to govern the world, to care for it, and to draw out its full potential.
To work is to reflect the image of God by continuing the work he began! When you write poetry, invest in a business startup, care for children, study microscopic organisms, or push a vacuum cleaner, you are reflecting God’s image—and there is no higher calling than to use your gifts to glorify God.
Thank you, God, for creating us in your image as workers. Help us to pattern our work after yours. Show us what it means to follow in your footsteps as we serve you in our work. Amen.
About the author — Rob Toornstra
Rob Toornstra has served as pastor of Sunnyslope Christian Reformed Church in Salem, Oregon, since 2006. When not busy with pastoral duties, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Amy, and their three children.
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