Prosperous Mindset #7 - Work Is Not A Curse!

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 Proverbs 13:4 - "The soul of the lazy man desires and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich."

Proper Balance

Before we go too far, let's keep this idea balanced with Mindset #4: I'm not talking about working just to get paid!

Don't forget that your job is NOT your source of prosperity. God desires for you to prosper (3rd John 2). God gave you the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). God teaches you how to profit (Isaiah 48:17). It is His blessing that will truly make you rich (Proverbs 10:22). No Christian should ever put their faith in their job to bring prosperity!

Having said that, it's also true that there are way too many people in this world who want to get rich only so they can stop working. For many people, sudden riches would cut their lives short. I'm not saying that they would die from their wealth... but their meaning and purpose in life would no longer exist if they didn't need their paycheck. If they ever became rich, they would produce nothing. Why? Because their only purpose for working is payday! 

Actually, this may be why they haven't gotten rich yet...they're lazy! What else would you call someone who works only to survive, and always fantasizes about a day when they won't have to work at all? Proverbs 13:4 speaks of these people when it says, "The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich." A lazy person may be forced to keep a job, but their mentality will keep them poor.

What If?

Christian, God will not underwrite your laziness. He's not interested in giving you everything so that you can do nothing. When it's done His way, prosperity comes with a purpose! He has a plan for every dollar that He trusts you with...and you'll end up giving Him an account for it all.

What if God dumped a large sum of money into your hands; but with the intention of you giving it all away and staying in your job?
Better yet, what if He provided enough wealth for you to be comfortable for the rest of your life; and then told you to volunteer at your job, and be a blessing to your boss?
What if He gave you a huge blessing all at one time so that you could walk away from everything and work for Him?

Would you be able to obey Him if He said one of these things to you? Or are you sharing the same "never work another day in your life" fantasy as the rest of the world? Believers have no business working towards a goal of retirement and laziness. God will always have work for you to do!

If you really want to walk in the prosperity that God has for you...
If you really want to see how immense His riches really are...
Then you must stay willing to work, whether you "need to" or not.

Proverbs 21:5 - "The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty; but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty."

Work is not a Curse!

Contrary to popular opinion, God did not curse Adam with work when he fell. Read Genesis 1 and 2 again and see for yourself...the existence of work was not a result of the curse! God gave Adam jobs and responsibilities before he sinned. Adam was created by God to work.

The curse didn't cause work, but it did change the nature of it. 

Before the fall, Adam worked with purpose. He had a direct calling from God. He had orders from Heaven to take charge, to rule over God's creation, and to oversee the human race. What an incredible responsibility! What's more, that job came with divine power to accomplish it.

After the fall, the nature of Adam's work changed. Instead of working towards a heavenly purpose, Adam was forced to work toward survival. And this curse on our work has continued from generation to generation. Even today, how many people are working with no real purpose? The whole world is struggling, chasing a paycheck so they can live another week.

Thankfully, Jesus' death broke that curse off of our lives. We don't need to be bound up in "survival mode" anymore. Jesus bore our poverty so that we could walk in His riches. And, like Adam, we have been given another divine commission - "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel"

No matter what our finances look like, whether we have little or much, we will always have work to do!

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