The Bible does not assume that work is enjoyable. “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,” says God to the fallen Adam (Gen. 3:19). On the other hand, there is no shortage of reproof for those who make work unnecessarily burdensome – who, as it were, demand bricks yet withhold straw (see Exod. 5:6-7). Overall, the pattern recommended by the Old Testament is one of regular labor balanced by regular rest, allowing the land and its occupants a long-term and productive coexistence.

Behind this lies an important implication. Nowhere in the Bible, in either Testament, does work appear as an end in itself. It is viewed as necessary for material sustenance, even as a moral duty (see Paul’s teaching in 2 Thess. 3:10), but always secondary to the principal aim of worshiping God. Amos offers the following corrective to an obsession with making money:

Hear this, you who trample upon the needy,
  and bring the poor of the land to an end,
saying, “When will the new moon be over,
  that we may sell grain?
And the sabbath,
  that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great,
  and deal deceitfully with false balances?” (Amos 8:4-5)

Once again, the Bible requires justice, but not only justice. In common with the concept of Jubilee as taught to the Israelites, this passage sets bounds to the whole process of wealth creation. Hard work and productivity are encouraged up to but not beyond the point where (under the Jubilee regulations) they result in permanent distortions in the pattern of ownership and (under the Sabbath law) they interfere with the society’s religious life. Work is to be kept in its place.

From Biblical Principles and Business: The Practice, edited by Richard C. Chewning (NavPress, Colorado Springs, 1990).  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.  Content distributed by WorkLife.org > Used for non-profit teaching purposes only.