Part 2 An Introduction to AVODAH WITH GOD: Working with God, God's Way

We’re laying the groundwork for God’s beautiful design for faith-filled work, service, and worship. More to come on: Avodah with God; Why does it matter to God? and What does it mean for us?

In the initial Introduction to AVODAH WITH GOD: Working with God, God's Way, we dove into Understanding Avodah with God, Avodah: A Word That Changes Everything, What is the equivalent to Avodah in the New Testament? and we came to the conclusion that based on God’s Word, it is clear that we are designed to “avad with God,” that is, to work with, serve, and worship Him. We unveiled that avodah with God is not just from 9-5, or as a volunteer every so often, or on Sunday mornings. It is our response in faith to who God is and all He has done. We are designed for meaningful work and worshipful acts of devotion over the long run. Avodah with God is about God’s children walking in a manner worthy of their calling, utilizing their gifts, time, and talents to serve God by serving others and glorify God through their work. Our God cares. Our God sees, and our God is for us, working in us, ready and willing to give us both the desire and the ability to do what pleases Him.

If you didn’t get a chance to read or listen in to our first Introduction to AVODAH WITH GOD: Working with God, God's Way, or if you would like to learn more, feel free to click this link below:

Now, onto Part 2!

Work Was Always Sacred

To understand this, we have to go all the way back to the beginning—Genesis 2. Before sin, before toil, before we started dreading Mondays.

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

As a reminder, avad is the verb form of avodah.

Adam’s first job wasn’t a punishment. It was a God-given calling. Work was always apart of God’s good design, from the very beginning. Adam’s work—gardening, stewarding, naming animals, co-creating with God—was an act of sacred service. Adam reflected his Creator through his creativity, his efforts, his care.

Fast forward to Exodus, and the same word—Avodah—is used for worship (or service, depending on the translation):

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship (avad) me.” - Exodus 8:1

So get this: The same word God uses for Adam’s work in the garden is the word He uses for Israel’s worship/service in the wilderness. Mind-blowing, right?

Continuing down the storyline of God’s people entering the Promised Land, we hear Joshua’s strong and courageous words to the entirety of the people of Israel in Joshua 24:14-15. (Avad, the verb form of avodah, is used seven times in these two verses, translated to English as serve. I will read it saying the original word in place of the English word serve.)

14 “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve (avad) him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served (avad) beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve (avad) the LORD. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve (avad) the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve (avad), whether the gods your fathers served (avad) in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve (avad) the LORD.”

These powerful words can be directed toward us today.

Choose this day who you will avad. Will you work with the LORD and partner with Him? Will you serve the LORD? Will you worship the LORD your God?

Somewhere along the way, we lost this concept of avodah. We split life into “sacred” and “secular.” Church is sacred. Bible studies, worship music, prayer—those things matter to God. But work? That’s just survival. That’s paying the bills. That’s a result of the Fall, of sin.

Except...based on God’s Word, that clearly doesn’t seem to be the way God sees it.

Perhaps this helps to explain why we feel so disillusioned with our work. We and the rest of the world are operating out of alignment with God’s perfect will, Word, and design. No wonder we can be prone to loathe work, care nothing for it, or make an idol of it.

It makes one wonder, how did Jesus feel about work?

How did Jesus’ actions reveal what He truly believed about working?

Jesus, a Carpenter, and You

Think about this: Jesus spent almost all of his life working and serving.

Jesus’ ministry was three years of almost constant work, at least six days a week, amid daily discomfort. Remember His response to the scribe who came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).

Jesus didn’t start his public ministry until He was ~30 years old. Before that? He was a carpenter, a craftsman, like his earthly dad, Joseph. How do we know that? After Jesus preached and healed a few sick people in His hometown of Nazareth, the people who knew Him growing up were amazed and questioned His wisdom and works, saying:

“‘Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him.” - Mark 6:3

Like most Jewish boys in his time, Jesus likely started as a carpenter’s apprentice when He was around 13 years old and completed His apprenticeship by 20 years old.

Imagine that. The Messiah of the world making furniture, installing cabinets and countertops, building beautiful wooden frameworks, and sweating in the Galilean sun for 17 years or so, from age 13-30.

What about before Jesus was an apprentice? What about Jesus as a kid? Like every other boy his age, Jesus would have likely been in a Jewish synagogue school from age 6 or 7 until 13 or so, where Jewish boys learned to read, write, and memorize the Torah, that is, God’s teaching or “law,” from the start of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy.

How do you imagine Jesus was as a carpenter? What was Jesus like as an apprentice or as a student?

So so? Mediocre? Distracted? No chance.

If “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), then we can conclude based on Christ’s attributes revealed throughout the Scriptures that Jesus worked with faithfulness, diligence, intentionality, wholeheartedness, sincerity, focus, enthusiasm, awareness, integrity, and excellence.

Knowing Jesus fulfilled the Law, we can conclude that Jesus truly loved God with all His heart, with all His soul, with all His mind, and with all His strength, even as He studied, learned, and worked.

In Luke 2:41-52, when 12-year old Jesus was found at the temple in Jerusalem, we see that Jesus sought His Father’s will first and yet, returned with His parents and submitted to them. We find in Luke 2:52 that “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”

Jesus knew His work mattered to His Father in heaven. Jesus did all that He did to glorify His Father. If Jesus our Savior and Lord worked, then work cannot be less than “spiritual.”

In John 5:1-17, after healing the disabled man at the pool of Bethesda, the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

“But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.’” - John 5:17

If Jesus’ work was meaningful, worshipful, and pleasing to His Father in heaven, then so too is our work meant to be meaningful, worshipful, and pleasing to our Father in heaven.

Yes, even our spreadsheets. Even our calls with customers and coworkers. Even scrubbing our toilets. Our faithfulness in little matters to God! Jesus Himself said,

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” - Luke 16:10

Concerning faithfulness in little and the Kingdom of God, Jesus gave the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). To the first and second servants who were faithful in little with their master’s wealth, the master gave the same message:

“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” - Matthew 25:21, 23

We are called to do all that we do for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). It is worth noting that working for God’s glory comes with an awareness of God’s presence with us and in us through His Spirit.

Avodah with God is not accidental, absent-minded, or independent. We are to work with God, to partner with God, and rely on His leadership, strength, and wisdom.

Working with God, God’s way, is not normal. This is countercultural work. Avodah with God, God’s way, is utterly unusual relative to the way almost everyone works—the world’s way.

Nevertheless, avodah with God, God’s way, is the best way. It is the most satisfying, fulfilling, and meaningful way. It is glorious, challenging, and worthwhile.

*An important note:

The call to “avad with God” does not negate the fact that we are to rest. God’s Word reveals His will and design for our partnership with Him, but it does not endorse workaholism or making an idol of busyness.

According to Blue Letter Bible, the Hebrew word šāḇaṯ (שָׁבַת) (pronounced shaw-bath'), that is, to cease, desist, or rest, is mentioned 71x in the Old Testament.

In the New Testament, Jesus Himself said,

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (anapauō). 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30

The Greek word used here for rest is anapauō (ἀναπαύω), pronounced an-ap-ow'-o, used 12x in the New Testament. According to Blue Letter Bible, this word’s use is outlined as the following:

* to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labour in order to recover and collect his strength

* to give rest, refresh, to give one's self rest, take rest

* to keep quiet, of calm and patient expectation

**Another important note:

The call to “avad with God” does not negate the fact that there are set apart moments for wholehearted, undistracted worship. According to Blue Letter Bible, the Hebrew word šāḥâ (שָׁחָה) (pronounced shaw-khaw'), mentioned 172x in the Old Testament, and Greek word proskyneō (προσκυνέω) (pronounced pros-koo-neh'-o), mentioned 60x in the New Testament, both highlight the need to bow before the Lord in reverence and submission.

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