Proverbs: A Godly Work Ethic
Intro: This morning, I warn you, I will be speaking very frankly. In fact, I’m going to use a four letter word that some of you might not like: WORK! It seems that no matter who we are, we don’t appreciate the value of work. Someone once said, “Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at the moment.” We find it very easy as humans to do that which comes easiest to us. But in the end, what is easiest is not always best.
An ancient Chinese proverb says, “If you wish to be happy for one hour, get intoxicated. If you wish to be happy for three days, get married. If you wish to be happy for eight days, kill your pig and eat it. If you wish to be happy forever, learn to fish.
We live in a society that has mixed views on work. On the one hand, we have a nation of workaholics. People working 60, 70, 80 hours a week out of a driving compulsion to “get ahead.” People who get in to work early, stay late, and bring their work home with them. One father kept bringing his work home with him and his 1st grade son asked him why. Daddy explained that he couldn’t finish it all during the day. The boy thought for a moment and asked, “Then why don’t they just put you in a slower group?”
On the other hand, we have a nation that worships pleasure and entertainment. We work our jobs only to get a paycheck. We live from the time we punch out till the time we punch back in again. Work is only an evil necessity that allows us to do the things we really want to do.
We want to look this morning at what God’s word has to say about work. Especially what the book of Proverbs has to tell us. But before we get to Proverbs, let’s start in the beginning in the book of Genesis.
The first thing we see about work is that God works. In six days God created the heavens and the earth. Work is not evil. In fact, when God created Adam, he put him to work. Gen 2:15 - The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Adam was put to work naming the animals. Yet, that work was a joy and a pleasure. We don’t see Adam saying, “God, why don’t you just name them yourself, I’m tired.” Or “I’ve been naming animals all morning, when do I get to take my break?”
Yet, when Adam and Eve fell and ate of the forbidden fruit, we see that work was part of the curse. Gen 3:17 - To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, `You must not eat of it,’ "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." And ever since, we have viewed work as a curse.
God chooses to have us work to provide for our needs. Before the fall, Adam had only to reach up and pick his food. But since, we have had to work for our food. We often get into trouble when we try to bypass God’s plans. That’s often what we try to do with work. We think Work is a curse, so we try to do anything we can to avoid working. Do you know anyone like that? Let’s look at some of the ungodly ideas about work.
I. Wrong Views of Work
A. Laziness - This is one of the most prevalent attitudes in our society.
I’ll be the first to admit, I often feel lazy. I like to procrastinate. I like to relax. We all do, I think. But that doesn’t make it right. Proverbs has a lot to say about laziness. Let’s look at some of the verses.
*Laziness brings poverty & scarcity - 6:6-11 - Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
20:4 - A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.
*laziness brings disgrace - 10:4-5 - Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.
*lazy men irritate those whom they work for - 10:26 - As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him.
#Slim - I used to work laying railroad track with a gentleman named Slim. Now Slim hated work. When we used to move rail - and it’s quite heavy - you didn’t want to get stuck with Slim. No matter how low you held the tongs, Slim always went lower letting you carry all the weight.
*laziness builds poor habits - 12:27 - The lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions. Do you know anyone who doesn’t want to cook, so they just have McDonald’s hamburgers all the time? McDonalds is not the most nutritious place to eat, but some people just don’t like the work of preparing a good meal.
*laziness ends up in unfulfilled desires - 13:4 - The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. Those who are lazy normally get nothing they really want. They tell themselves they are happy, but they will not work, so they do not get what they really want.
*laziness leads to ruin - 24:30-34 - I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
B. Desire to get rich quick - Another wrong attitude towards work is that you can strike it rich, win big, you don’t need to work, you just need a little luck. Even when we know the way to acquire wealth and meet our needs is through working, we still have the dream of fortune.
#Vinnie - every paycheck - $100 in lottery tickets - dreamt of hitting the “big one”
12:11 - He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.
13:11 - Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.
It seems we don’t like this idea - we don’t want to work and wait, we want it now.
Remember the prodigal son - he didn’t want to wait until his father died for his inheritance, he wanted it then and there. And what happened? He wasted it all in ungodly living.
C. Greed - Even when we work, we never seem to have enough. We can have a wrong attitude towards work by never being satisfied, never being content with what we have.
11:16 - A kind-hearted woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth.
13:4 - The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
27:20 - Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man.
D. Big Talk - Do you know anybody who is a self-proclaimed expert. Whatever needs to be done, they always know the best way. No matter what profession you do, they used to do that to. It seems they have worked just about every type of job imaginable. They talk a lot about work, but they never seem to get a lot of it done.
14:23 - All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
E. Half-hearted working - There are many who work, but only putting in the hours. They don’t work as unto the Lord, or even as unto their boss. They are simply there. Sort of like the road workers: You drive down the road past a construction site, and there will be one guy in a pit shoveling stone, and five guys at the side, watching, leaning on their shovels.
18:9 - One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys. Once again, another ungodly attitude towards work.
F. Making excuses about work (or lack of it)
There are some people who always have an excuse why they can’t work. There is always a reason.
22:13 - The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!" or, "I will be murdered in the streets!"
26:13 - The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!"
####Fire story - all did different things - no one put out fire - Holy Humor 134
There are a lot of ungodly attitudes about work. Let’s search our hearts to make sure that these attitudes don’t characterize us. It is easy to excuse ourselves. In fact, those who view work wrongly often thing they are wise. 26:16 - The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.
What is really God’s plan for our attitudes about work?
II. Godly view of work: turning the curse back into a blessing.
Work does not need to be a curse to us. Rather, when we work with a godly attitude, God can use that work to be the channel of his blessing to us.
A. Provision - When we work as we ought, God supplies our needs.
6:6-8 - Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
12:11 - He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.
B. Prosperity - Those willing to work God’s way will increase their holdings. God’s plan is not necessarily for us all to amass great fortunes, but God desires to meet our needs, and he desires for us to have something to give to those who have need. Let’s look at what the proverbs say about wealth.
10:4 - Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
13:11 - Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.
20:13 - Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.
C. Honor - those who work diligently bring honor to themselves
12:24 - Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.
22:29 - Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.
D. Satisfaction - When we work God’s way, we are content with what we have.
13:4 - The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
12:27 - The lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions.
11:18 - The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.
III. Work is a physical effort with a spiritual dimension
Even though work is physical activity, it has a lot to say about our relationship to God.
20:11 - Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct [KJV - work] is pure and right.
31 - the virtuous woman - a woman of noble character - is a woman of diligent work
16:3 - Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
*This is not a promise to get whatever you want, but rather a promise that as we do things God’s way, those plans will succeed. Often we work so we can accomplish our plans. We choose a job for how big a salary we make, what it will to in advancing us in the eyes of the world.
Let’s make sure we look at work as an avenue of serving Christ.
Col. 3:23 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
Concl: Maybe we have seen ourselves this morning in these examples of work styles and attitudes. Hopefully, we saw ourselves in good examples. But, maybe we might see ourselves having some bad work habits. Let’s commit our work and our attitudes about work to the Lord.
But especially important this morning, is that we work for the Lord. Our home is not on this earth, yet so often we build up our treasures here. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let’s make sure we are working for the Lord. Who have we witnessed to lately, sharing God’s wonderful plan of salvation? Who have we encouraged? Who have we shared burdens with and prayed with? This church will grow as each one of us does our part in working for the Lord.
