I recently wrote out some thoughts for a friend who is in a painful season of unemployment, seeking to cast a broad vision for him of what work is:
Work is a gift given by God (before the fall) to teach us to share with him in the creation of what is good in the world he has made. Since we are image bearers, when we work we create value (assuming our occupation is contributing to society, and not corrupting it).
Work is the creation of value in the sense that we are helping a business bring their vision of providing goods and services to life. We can find meaning in our work as we work alongside God in this project; we seek his help as we work and offer all our efforts up to him and leave the outcomes with him.
The curse of the fall related to work is "sweat," meaning we now face the grind of working without God. Jesus redeems this for us though, and invites us to bring our work back into God's life and find work meaningful and life giving in and with him.
