Interestingly, work was not a human invention, it was actually God’s idea from the beginning. The very first command that God ever gave a human being was to work. Adam and Eve had barely taken their first breath when God said to them, “Your job is to be fruitful, to multiply and you are to subdue the earth. You are to rule over it and make it productive.” In fact, the very first time the word “work” is ever used in the Bible is used at the beginning of the biblical story, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). Nobody is exempt if they are able from work. Even the Son of God came to do the work that God had given him to do. At the end of his life, Jesus said this, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). So it shouldn’t surprise us that the Word of God has something to tell us about work and how we should work. With that in mind, Paul showed people then how to live within that economic system and gave principles that apply to us today for those of us who work.