The First Job: Why Work Is a Gift

Tend and Keep

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What was the very first job in the world? Before there were farmers, builders or teachers, God gave Adam a job in a garden.

The job. “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (Genesis 2:15).

Tend. To tend means to work the ground and help things grow. Adam dug, planted, watered and picked fruit.

Keep. To keep means to watch over and protect. Adam was a guard as well as a gardener.

Before sin. This job came in a perfect world. Nothing had gone wrong yet. So work is not a punishment. God built it into His very good world (Genesis 1:31).

God works too. God worked for six days and then rested from “all His work which He had done” (Genesis 2:2). When we work, we are being like our Creator.

Working with God. God made the plants grow, and Adam tended them. God did His part, and Adam did his. Work is a way of working alongside God.

Work as worship. “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23). Heartily means with your whole heart.

Every job counts. Making your bed, feeding a pet, doing homework and helping a neighbor can all be done for Jesus. God sees the jobs no one else notices.

Then sin came. After Adam disobeyed, God said, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17). Thorns and thistles grew (3:18). Work became hard and tiring.

Still good. Sin made work hard, but it did not make work bad. God still gives people strength and skill to work, and He still loves to see work done well.

Do not quit. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9). Reap means to gather a harvest.

Gifts to share. “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another” (1 Peter 4:10). God gives each person abilities so they can serve others.

What to do. Pick one job at home this week and do it without being asked. Do it cheerfully, as if Jesus were watching, because He is.

Genesis 2:15 describes Adam's work with two Hebrew verbs, and the rest of the Bible uses both of them for serving God.

Abad (to tend). Abad (say: ah-VAHD) means to work, cultivate or serve. God told Pharaoh to let His people go so that they could serve Him (Exodus 8:1), using the same verb. Farm work and worship share one word.

Shamar (to keep). Shamar (say: shah-MAR) means to guard, watch or keep. It is used for keeping God's commands (Deuteronomy 6:17) and for guarding something precious. Adam was to protect the garden as well as grow it.

Priest and gardener. Together, abad and shamar describe the Levites serving and guarding the tabernacle (Numbers 3:7-8). Many Christians see Adam as the first priest, whose daily work in God's garden was an act of worship.

Work in the image of God. God is a worker. He made, shaped, planted and then finished His work (2:2). People made in His image are makers too. Work is part of what it means to be human.

Rule that serves. Genesis 1:28 gave people rule over the earth. Genesis 2:15 shows what that rule looks like: careful, hands-on service, not careless use.

Work after the fall (3:17-19). The ground was cursed, and work became toil: “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread” (3:19). Frustration in work is real. But the curse fell on the ground, not on the gift of work itself.

Paul on work. Paul told the Thessalonians that anyone who will not work should not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10), and to work quietly with their own hands (1 Thessalonians 4:11). Laziness dishonors God, and faithful work honors Him.

Colossians 3:23. “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” Paul wrote this to servants doing hard, unseen work. No task is too small to be done for Christ.

Stewards. “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). A steward manages what belongs to someone else. Your time and talents belong to God.

A good gift, a bad god. Work is a gift, but it makes a poor master. When people live only for their jobs, money or success, work becomes an idol. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Application. Ask what work God has put in front of you right now: school, chores, a sport, a skill, a friend who needs help. Tend it and keep it, and do it for Him.

Jesus the Worker

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God gave Adam work to do, and Adam failed the one test God gave him. Then God sent His Son. Jesus came to do the work no one else could do.

A carpenter. Before Jesus began preaching, He worked with His hands. The people of Nazareth called Him the carpenter (Mark 6:3). The Son of God knew what a hard day's work felt like.

His Father's work. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). Doing God's work filled Him up like a good meal.

Always working. Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry, taught the crowds and welcomed children. He was never too busy for people who needed Him.

A servant. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Ransom means a price paid to set someone free.

The work only He could do. On the cross Jesus paid for our sins. Just before He died, He cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). The work of saving us was complete.

Not by our work. We cannot work our way to heaven. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

But for good works. The very next verse says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). We are saved by grace, and then we get to work for Him.

Rest for the tired. Jesus invites, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Heavy laden means carrying a heavy load.

A day of rest. Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). God gives rest as a gift, so we do not work ourselves to exhaustion.

Work in heaven. Heaven will not be boring. “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him” (Revelation 22:3). There will be joyful work with no thorns.

The best rest. “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). Jesus gives that rest to everyone who trusts Him.

What to do. Thank Jesus for finishing the work of saving you. Then ask Him which good work He has prepared for you to do today.

Adam was given work in a garden of plenty and failed the one test. Jesus took up the work His Father gave Him, in a world full of thorns, and He finished it.

The carpenter (Mark 6:3). The Greek word tekton (say: TEK-tone) means a builder or craftsman who worked with wood or stone. Jesus spent most of His earthly life doing ordinary work. That honors every ordinary job.

John 4:34. “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” For Jesus, obeying the Father was not a burden. It was nourishment.

Finished (John 19:30). On the cross Jesus said, “It is finished!” The Greek word is tetelestai (say: teh-TEL-es-tie), a word also used for a debt paid in full. God ended His work of creation (Genesis 2:2), and at the cross Jesus finished the work of salvation.

The night before. In His prayer before the cross, Jesus told the Father that He had glorified Him on the earth and finished the work He had been given to do (John 17:4).

Grace before works (Ephesians 2:8-10). Verses 8-9 rule out works as the way to be saved. Verse 10 says we are His workmanship, “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” Works are the fruit of salvation, not its root.

Mark 10:45. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” The greatest work Jesus did was giving Himself.

Rest (Matthew 11:28; Hebrews 4:9-10). Jesus offers rest to the weary. Hebrews says “he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.” Trusting Christ means we stop trying to earn God's favor.

Sabbath (Mark 2:27). Rest is God's gift to people. A life of nonstop work forgets that God, not our effort, holds the world together.

No more curse (Revelation 22:3). “His servants shall serve Him.” The Greek verb for serve, latreuo (say: lah-TROO-oh), is a word for worship. In the new creation, work and worship become one again, as they were in Eden.

Application. Rest in what Jesus finished, then work hard at what He gives you. Both honor Him.

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