Work has run into a problem. People live for their jobs and find their lives ebbing away. But Dr. Tony Evans says that's because we've misdirected the focus of our labor. God doesn't want you to whistle while you work.
He wants you to worship while you work. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Maybe you've heard the saying, do what you love and you'll never work another day in your life.
Well, Dr. Evans says the key to experiencing satisfaction at work has more to do with your motivation than your mood. Let's join him as he explains. God created work.
So work is not bad. In fact, God created work before sin ever entered the world.
So, when there was a perfect world and a perfect environment, there was perfect work. But when God created work, He created work to be. Watch this. A partnership. between him and the worker.
When God first told the first worker, Adam, about work, He told him in Genesis chapter 2, verse 15: he took the man, put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. I do not, Adam, want you to leave me out of your work. And to remind you, you're not to leave me out of your work. I'm gonna put this tree in the middle of the garden. Because I don't want you figuring this thing out without me.
Your work is to include me. There's no such thing as work without me. This partnership goes further because in chapter 2, verse 19 Out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field, every bird of the sky, brought them to man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
So, not only did he have to do the work, he had to use his brain.
So, I want to establish that work created by God was always deemed to be a partnership. Work was designed to produce divinely authorized good, that is, benefit. And service Through the righteous cultivation and development of Earth's resources.
So that is what work was designed to do. God placed a reminder. That he was not to be left out of work. He established the Sabbath. The Bible says he created six days on the seventh day.
He rested, not because he was tired, but because he wanted to enjoy what he had done all week.
So he rested, that is, he relaxed. to enjoy himself. And why shouldn't he enjoy himself that was nobody else to enjoy? Then he gave the Sabbath to mankind. And he said, now, what I want you to do is I want you to work six days.
But you don't touch that seventh day.
Now, in the New Testament, the Bible has flexed the day. It doesn't have to be Saturday, but it does have to be the system. That there was one day. When you did not work, God says. If you work seven days, I'm going to work against you.
He told them when the manna was floating down from heaven, he said, On six days you gather the manna. On the sixth day, you gather enough for two days, but don't you go out and try to gather no manna on the seventh day. If you go out and try to, Gather the manna on the seventh day, the manna you have will grow rotten. Because I want that one day. For you to remember, I am your source.
And there is no job, no work, no salary, no income, no economics if there is no God.
So on this one day You don't go profiteering. You don't go trying to fix it all up on this one day because that's the day to remember. This is a partnership. And work is not to exist. independently of me.
Work has run into a problem. You see, what Adam and Eve did. Was they separated work from God? When they decided to act independently of God, The Bible says there was a Curse. And part of the curse affected.
Work. Chapter 3 of Genesis verse Then to Adam, he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife. And I've eaten from the tree which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat from it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In toil, you will eat of it.
all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles, it shall grow for you, and you will eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face. You will eat bread till you return to the ground. Because from it you were taken. For you are dust.
When you Separated from me, you curse your employment. Because Adam was a farmer and Adam was supposed to till the ground and it was going to be easy and natural. He wasn't going to break out in the sweat. He wasn't going to get too tired. It was going to be a joyful experience to go to work.
But because he separated work from God and there was a curse.
Now work was going to be a troubling experience. He would now be sweating. because of all that would be demanded of him. And he would have to work in an environment, it says of thorns and thistles would stick you. Prick you.
Cut you. irritate you. And now he's got to have an irritation experience. on the jobs. I wonder, do any of you work around thorns and thistle people?
Thorns and thistle balses, or maybe you are the thorn and thistle. But the environment is not going to be Necessarily engaging, you're still gonna have to work. But you're working in the context of a cursed environment. Yeah. Because there was an illegitimate separation.
between Sunday and Monday. Sunday I worship God, Monday I go to work. That's an illegitimate separation. Once you disconnect God from work, You are now partnering with the curse. You're partnering with the thing that was judgment.
And not the thing that was meant to be a blessing, as work was meant to be. See, many of us worship God on Sunday, but we got another God on Monday called our Korea. And it's worship. How do we know it's worship? Because it gets our attention, our affection, our dedication, our loyalty.
It gives everything we have got. That's worship. God doesn't want you to whistle while you work. He wants you to worship while you work. Because he never expected work to become disconnected with him.
Let me tell you about some of the thorns and thistles that have grown up around work because work has been disconnected from God, which was never his intention. There's the thorn and thistle of injustice. Where people are Are put in situations of work that are not fair. that put in evil systems of work. Oppressive forced labor, First Samuel eight, verses eleven to eighteen.
He says the government will put you in a position where you will be in forced labor, not voluntary labor. Based on injustice kidnapping. and a myriad of other evils. Because they got disconnected properly and righteously from God. Predatory lending.
Nehemiah 5, 1 to 8, where the poor Had to borrow. and illegitimate interest rates. and payday loans. with outrageous interest usury. Would be used to keep people poor and to keep them oppressed.
All because God got separated from work. The thorn and thistle of greed. Greed is where? I want to make more at your expense. And so there's a thorn and thistle when God gets separated from work.
Ecclesiastes chapter 2, verses 17 to 24. Says when God gets separated from work, vanity sets in. Emptiness sets in. Because the career can't give you life and meaning and hope. It can give you a job, it can give you money, but it can't give you meaning.
People live for their jobs and find their lives ebbing away. Not because it's wrong to work. Work was established by God. It's wrong to work with God, not a part of the job. And then the Bible condemns whole economic systems.
Economic systems that have been set up to have a centralized approach. to economic well-being. The Bible teaches in Revelation 13, verses 16 and 17 that a centralized, top-down economic system is the economic system of the Antichrist. And so you have oppressive governments with top-down economic systems, over taxation, and a myriad of other illegitimate economic practices. And the Bible says those economies come out of hell.
We're dealing with a theology of work. Not a sociology of work. Because you are a kingdom steward of this creation and God created work, but he never ever thought he would be detached from it. And so we live in a day Where we have to work in a cursed environment. You see it every day when you go to your jobs, you see people.
doing things that Are illegitimate. You see them talking ways that are illegitimate, working ways that are illegitimate. Why? Because we live and work in a cursed environment. That's our reality.
So the question on the floor is God created work, said work is good, wants to partner with my work. But because of the detachment Of God from culture, God from man, and God from work, I didn't have to go to work in a cursed environment. I got to go to work with or around thorns and thistles. I got to be needled on the job. I'm not fulfilled.
I'm not happy. I'm not satisfied. I don't make enough. And a myriad of other things that make work. dissatisfied even though we've got to do it.
So how do we balance? The fact God created it. But I gotta do it in a curse. How do I find meaning in my work? Dr.
Evans will return with the simple but profound answer to that question when he continues today's teaching in just a moment. Don't go away. How would it feel? to gain timeless truths of Scripture through grounded conversation. The Unbound Podcast, hosted by Dr.
Tony Evans. brings clarity to life's toughest questions. Can we just take a moment to talk about that wrong thinking related to suffering? Find light in your daily struggles with Dr. Evans and his guests.
Listen to the Unbound Podcast. Look for the new Unbound podcast with Tony Evans on his YouTube channel or on your favorite podcast platform.
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or call 1-800-800-3222. Or one of our friendly team members is ready to help with your request any time of the day or night. Again, that's tonyevans.org. or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. Let's rejoin Dr.
Evans now for part two of today's lesson. How do I find meaning? in my work. Sure.
Well, you gotta reconnect what got disconnected. You got to reconnect something God never intended to be. Disconnected. You gotta carry God to work with you tomorrow. Mm.
You got to carry God to work with you. I'm not talking about being a Christian. I'm talking about you have to carry God on the job beginning tomorrow, and every day you go to work. or to school or whatever you do. You must carry God.
With you.
Okay, let's develop that a little bit. Colossians. Chapter three Half of the Roman population were slaves.
So slave was a normal way of life.
So this isn't the job you would apply for. He says in verse 22. Slaves in all things, obey your masters on earth, not with external service as those merely pleasing men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Oh, wait a minute. You want the slave to work for the Lord.
Okay, verse 23. Whatever you do, do your work hardly. Put everything you got in it as for the Lord rather than. For men. Read Daniel chapter 6 verses 1 to 28 sometime this week.
Daniel is working for a pagan government. He's got some haters. In his division. He's got some folk. who don't like him.
Who can't stand him? and who want to get rid of him.
So they plot to get rid of Daniel. They say we got to get rid of him because this guy is too Christian here.
So let's get rid of Daniel.
So the first plot was to find something wrong with his work. But it says, searched as they could, they couldn't find anything with his work. Went to work on time, did what he's supposed to do, did what he better than everybody else, didn't steal pens and pencils from the office, take them home. He wasn't doing any of that. Daniel was working hard, taking care of his business, and they couldn't find anything wrong with Daniel.
So they plotted, they said, Well, no, we couldn't find anything wrong with his work because this guy works. But Wartworks is excellent. His work was extraordinary, he calls it.
So let's find out something wrong with his God. Let's get rid of him because of his faith.
So they go to the king. And say, you got this guy working for you who's really not committed to you, he's too religious.
So I think you ought to pass a law that nobody can pray to any other God for 30 days.
So the king signs off on it, the law of the Medes and Persians, which did not change.
So it was a fixed law. It says When Daniel heard That the document had been signed, you can't pray to any other God. They tried to put him in a catch-22. You can't pray to any other God, or you're going to be fired. Says Daniel went home.
Now he ain't building altar only job, dropping, dropping on his knees at his desk. He didn't do all that. You know. He went home. It says he dropped to his knees.
With the windows open now I'm sure many of us. If we were to drop to our knees, we would at least close the windows so nobody would see. He had the windows open toward Jerusalem where the temple was. And he faced God. God, this is my situation.
The company's against me, the government's against me, even the law is against me. But you're my God. You my source. And I'm looking to you, even though they're going to fire me for praying to you.
So the enemies were looking in the window. Saw him praying to his God, the Bible says, as he always did.
So he wasn't just doing it because he was getting ready to get fired. He was doing it because that was his habit related to his job.
So this was a way he rolled.
So he prayed. They told the king, King, you got to get rid of him. And the king threw him in the lion's den.
Some of you tomorrow are going to a lion's den. You're going to a place that does not respect you, that does not respect your faith, that does not want your value system. And you will have to be thrown to the lions. They threw him to the lion's den.
So please notice, just because you're following God doesn't mean you won't face lions. Just because you're following God doesn't mean people won't plot against you or politic against you in the office. They will do that because we're living in a curse. But even though they did that, the Bible says that he was there with the lions. The king came the next day and here's what the king said.
Daniel Has the God who you served. Been able to deliver you from the lunch. I hope you ain't missed that. He said, Daniel. Does the God who you serve, was he able to deliver you from the lion?
Now, how could the king ask him about the God he served unless he knew he served the God? In other words, it was clear to the head of the company that this man was a believer in God, served God, but he didn't go around handing tracks out every day. He didn't go out having prayer meetings every day. He did his work with such extraordinary excellence and then gave God the glory for it. And the company was profiting.
So he says, is the God who you've been talking about serving, believing in, saying your prayers at lunchtime, not going around acting like everybody else, I just want to know, has that God worked out for you? Daniel said, oh, king, let it be known to you, these lions were my pillow last night because I was just laying on those lions because God took care of me. Even if you get fired by your enemy, God has the last say so. Oh. But the story is not over.
Because it goes on to say the king got all of the haters. who were hating on Daniel. and threw them all into the lion's den. All of a sudden the lions woke up. and decided they wanted something to eat.
and ate all of the hags. Not only that. But on top of that, Daniel got a promotion.
So I'm telling you, if you start taking God to work, he can turn things around. That's why the Bible says When you go to work. Psalm 90 verse 17, ask God to bless your work.
So, when you go to work tomorrow, ask God to bless your work. And then I love Psalm 105, verses 43 to 45, which says: if you will take God to work, and if you will bless God at work, What God will do is he will take from the sinner and he will switch it over to the saint. He will take, he says, he says, you know why you got a land flowing with milk and honey? Because I let the sinners plant. I let the sinners seed.
I let the sinners build houses. I let the sinners build businesses. And when you were ready, When you were ready to obey me, follow me, and include me, I just turned over to you what I had sinners preparing for you. God may have something prepared for you by somebody else. He's just waiting for you to include him before he delivers it to you.
What I'm trying to say is. Take God to work. Dr. Evans will return in a moment with some real-life examples of that principle. First, though, God has designed us to make an eternal impact.
and kingdom stewardship helps us understand how we can live out that calling in practical ways. In this powerful resource, doctor Evans explains how aligning our priorities with God's kingdom brings purpose, clarity, and direction. When you make a contribution to help keep the alternative on the air, We'll send you the Kingdom Stewardship book from Dr. Evans, along with the full two-volume audio series, a comprehensive study guide, and a leader's kit with access to exclusive Bible study video sessions. resources you can use on your own or to lead others as you consider these life-changing principles.
To get all the details, just visit TonyEvans.org today. and look for the Kingdom Stewardship Offer right on the home page. Or if it's more convenient, you can give one of our resource team members a call at 1-800-800-3222. They're ready to help with your request any time of the day or night. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.
And before we hear the conclusion of today's lesson, I'd like to encourage you to consider joining us for a journey through Israel with Tony Evans this October. Dr. Evans will be teaching from the Scriptures as we visit places like Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee, plus many more Holy Land sites you've read about but have probably never experienced first hand. To learn more, visit Tony Evans. org.
Dr. Evans says everything we have has been given to us by God to manage. But what happens when some of that inventory gets stolen? Tomorrow we'll find out who the culprit is and what we can do about it. Right now though, Tony's back with these closing comments for today.
In a battery. Started off as a small battery company. All right. It's now the largest battery company in the world. If you go on the website and ask for their mission statement, the mission statement of Interstate Battery, we're talking about batteries, but the mission statement for Interstate Battery is: our mission is to glorify God.
By providing our customers with the best possible service with their batteries. If you go to Chick-fil-A website, I'm talking about chicken. I'm talking about places closed on Sunday. But a Fortune 500 company. Their mission statement is, we are here to glorify God by providing our customers quality service in what we provide them.
In other words, they don't apologize, they don't apologize, and they still make a profit and don't work on Sunday because they have included God in their business. You say, but I'm a banker. Take God to the bank. I'm a grocery store worker. Take God to the food aisle.
You take God with you. You give God glory. You ask God to bless the work. And you operate as a kingdom steward on your job so that you can reverse the curse. You can reverse the curse.
And you can see God. Bring himself to your employment.
