But God’s idea of work is much different. God gave work to mankind as part of his good creation. He gave the first humans a job in the Garden, “to work it and take care of it” (Gen 2:15, NIV). Thus, work was part of creation before sin entered the world. One of the consequences of sin was that it made work harder for us, but God is still the one who gives us work to do and work is still good.
Second, work is a primary way that we serve others and God. We can readily see how people in the so-called “helping professions” like nursing are serving others. But people in other kinds of professions are also serving others when they do their jobs faithfully. For example, a person who works on telephone systems is serving people by keeping the telephones operating. If the phone service goes down, not only do businesses suffer but lives can be endangered. What about a chemist who tests water quality? Accurate results can impact the health of thousands of people. What about a plumber, or a computer repair person, or an elementary school teacher? All these professions impact people, and if people do these jobs well, then they are helping others.