WHAT WE NEED is an authentic Christian philosophy of work. Too many Christians see their work as no more than a painful necessity, since we have to earn our living somehow. By contrast, I think we should imagine . . .
. . . Adam . . . going to work each day in the Garden of Eden with energy and enthusiasm. For God put the man he had made into the garden he had planted, in order "to work it and take care of it" [Genesis 1:15]. Thus God deliberately humbled himself to need Adam's cooperation. Of course he could have done all the work himself. After all, he had planted the garden. So presumably he could have managed it too! But he chose not to.
. . . .
We need . . . to make an important distinction between nature and culture. Nature is what God gives us; culture is what we make of it (agriculture, horticulture, etc.). Nature is raw materials; culture is commodities prepared for market. Nature is divine creation; culture is human cultivation. God invites us to share in his work. Indeed, our work becomes a privilege when we see it as collaboration with God.
(John Stott, Through the Bible, Through the Year: Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelation (Monarch Books 2006)
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