Are You Working Like A Dog Or A Saint?

The Sexton and the Wagon Driver

The children of Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch, the fourth Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, once debated Judaism's contribution to "living life." Their father, weighing in on their discussion, summoned his simpleminded sexton, Bentzion. The Rebbe inquired: "Bentzion, did you get a chance to eat yet today?" "Yes." "And did you eat well?" "I'm not sure about the meaning of 'eating well,' but I am satisfied, thank G‑d."

"I'm not sure about the meaning of 'eating well,' but I am satisfied, thank G‑d...""And, why, might I ask, did you eat?" "Why, in order to live!" "And for what purpose do you live?" "In order to be able to serve G‑d." "Thank you Bentzion, you can go now," said the Rebbe.

The Rebbe then sent for Ivan, their Russian Yiddish-speaking wagon driver. "Ivan, have you eaten today?" "Sure!" "Have you eaten well?" "And how!" "Tell me, Ivan, why do you eat?" "In order to live!"

"And why do you live?" "Well, I'd say it boils down to a good drink." With that, Ivan was off.

The Rebbe then turned to his young children who had listened in fascination to the exchange, and said: "This is the Jewish contribution to life; we work to live, and we live for a higher purpose." - Likuttei Diburim, vol. 3, pg. 421a.

Our sages teach that after studying Torah in the morning a person "should go to work, for all Torah which is not accompanied by work is destined to be nullified and in danger of causing transgression, because excessive poverty may cause him to deviate from the will of his Maker. But even so, a person should not make his work primary, but secondary, and his Torah the center; in this way both will succeed" (Code of Jewish Law, Orach Chaim 156).

Exo_23:12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

2Th_3:10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

Col_3:17 and whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Col_3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

It’s September and we celebrate Labor Day! For many years, kiddos went back to school the day after Labor Day and I think the parents celebrated the Day more for that than to honor the American worker.

Work defines us as one of the first questions we ask a new person is about where and what kind of work they do.

Yet, work is the one thing most of us are unhappy about our jobs. One report I read said that at least 85% of us are not in the career field of our dreams and many are not even in the career for which they trained.

Man was made to work. We are created in the image of God and we read about His work in Genesis and His many other works all the way through to the last word of Revelation. God rested on the seventh day and we also are to have one day in seven where we rest and worship. Many people suffer burnout from going more than six days at a time or working some odd shifts requiring too many long days in a row with many too many days in a row off. Our clocks are divinely wired for six on and one off. In order to circumvent the curse we have come up with all sorts of ways to make work different, but not always better. Our technology has made us earn our bread by the furrow of our brow and not the sweat. Stress kills quicker and we have made work more stressful while making it less physical.

Adam and Eve were required to dress the Garden, so work is God ordained. They had the best and probably easiest job ever since there was no time clock or pressure even if it was physical. They worked together with no jealousy or competition. They topped off the day spending time with God. Work does not get any better than that.

Sin messed it all up. No more walking with God and the curse made earning their food harder. As more people came forth the sin nature created all kinds of greed, pride, laziness, etc. that made work rough on the individual and whatever team or organization involved. Yet, God says that a man who WILL not work, not CANNOT work, doesn’t get to eat and a man professing faith who doesn’t provided for his own is worse than an infidel/unbeliever.