Word of the Week: LABOR

In our Word of the Week on this Labor Day, Pastor Nathanael Mayhew takes a look at the Biblical perspective on work or labor.  Many people in our world today view labor as a burden or a negative.  But God reveals something very different.  God has given work as a blessing to mankind.  Even in the perfect world God gave Adam work to do in naming the animals and tending the garden.  After sin entered the world that labor would become more difficult, but it still can bring satisfaction, and be a blessing to our neighbor.  Throughout Scripture, God emphasizes the importance and blessing of labor.  But labor also has its limitations.  While work is a gift from God, we are not able achive our own salvation before God through our own labor.  What we were not able to do, Jesus has done for us.  Through His labor (His perfice life and sacrificial death) our debt of sin before God has been paid in full.  We are invited to come to Jesus for needed spiritual rest, knowing He has done it all.  There, at the cross of Jesus we can find rest for our souls.  On this Labor Day we thank God for the blessing of work in this life, but even more, we celebrate the work of Christ for us!