Scriptures on Labor

Our most recent issue of World magazine had nine excellent articles focusing on the general theme of the world of work and the Christian concept of vocation, or "calling."    As promised, here are the scriptures which relate to this theme:                                                   

Work and our attitude toward it

1. Work is part of God’s plan for man.
     “Six days shall you labor and do all your work…” Exodus 20:9
      “In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty.” Proverbs 14:23

2. Honest work results in personal satisfaction.
     “When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.” Proverbs 31:25

3. God approves and rewards diligence.
    “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no work in the grave where you are going.”

4. One who looks for excuses not to work will accomplish little.
    “The slothful man says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets! As a door turns on its hinges, so does the slothful man turn on his bed.” Proverbs 26:13-16

5. Men are to plan ahead, but also to consider God’s will in their planning.
    See Proverbs 30: for the examples of the ant, the cony, the locust, and the spider. Also in James, 4: 13-15 believers are warned about planning without considering God’s will.

Business Principles

1. Business must be conducted honestly.
    “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.” Proverbs 11:1

2. Business should be conducted with proper safeguards.
    “Whomever you approve by your letters, I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.” I Corinthians 16:3

3. An employer must be fair to his workers.
    “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” Luke 10:7

4. Employees are to served their employers faithfully and as unto the Lord.
    “Servants, be obedient…with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ. Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ; doing the will of Christ from the heart.” Ephesians 6:5-8

5. A break in the work week is God’s plan, in remembrances of God’s rest at the end
    of the creation week, and in response to the needs of men and animals.
    “But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: In it you shall do no work…” Exodus 20:11