John 5:17 - work, work, work and MORE work

"Jesus said to them, 'My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.' "

Work, work, work, and MORE work.  Does the work ever end?  What about retirement, don't I get to stop working then?  Do I have to work till I die?  Good grief, already, I'm tired and I need a rest !!!!!!  Sound familiar? I'm sure it does.  Seems like I've said that a time or two myself, and just recently, too.  

And yet, work has been a part of man even since the time of the garden.  Genesis 2:15 tells us this:  "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."  God did not create us to be couch-potatoes, but to be productive, even in Paradise.  The only difference being, the work in Paradise wasn't really work at all because it was the perfect place, it was Paradise.  No weeds!   And now our work outside of the garden is to glorify God and lead others to eternal life in Him that they may glorify Him also.  Never-ending, even in retirement.  We may retire from secular work, but we NEVER retire from glorifying God with our lives and we never retire from leading the unsaved to salvation.  There is no retirement plan in God's work.

Genesis 2:2 says:  "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work"   but our verse today says that God is still working, and so is Jesus.  Hmmmm, is there a contradiction?  I don't think so.  God stopped working on the seventh day because He has finished creating the world.  THAT work was now complete.  Phew!  I'm tired and I need a rest, said the Lord.  Well, actually, God didn't get tired, but He knew WE would, so He gave us a day of rest, which, by the way, we don't use as it was intended, but that's another day.  We have a day of rest instituted by God.  But when the next day rolled around, He was back at work.  Not creating, because that was all done, but now God is busy keeping everything from falling into total chaos:  He is at work in every believer's life, trying to keep us on the straight and narrow;  He is at work keeping control on Satan and his employees so that they don't completely overrun the world;  He is at work in us, using us to His glory;  He is at work in non-believers, working in their hearts and drawing them to Himself;  He is at work keeping the universe from falling in on itself until the proper time;  God is at work IN EVERY THING AND EVERY ONE until the time of its and our completion and we return to God.

Oh my gosh, what would happen in this world, this universe, if God retired and called it quits?  That time is coming, saint.  Revelation 20:7-9 says: "When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. . . "   Until this time, God is at work protecting us.  Glory to His Name !!

Today we honor the work force, the men and women of America who have made our country what it is.  Every one of us have been or are in that number.  Thank you, America, for all your hard work and dedication.  But after we have worked our allotted number of years, we will retire and hopefully enjoy the "golden years" as they have become known.

But today, and every day, let us remember our Lord and God, Creator of heaven and earth, the Sustainer of life and Giver of all gifts, whose mercies and compassions are new every morning and who never closes and eye or turns His head from His children.   He never sleeps, never ceases to care for us; His work continues forever.  Praise be to God for His love and grace to us! 

"Thank you, Lord God Almighty, for your constant love and care of us.  Thank you for working in our lives to make us what You want us to be - holy unto You.  Thank you for never wavering in your faithful care and vigilant watchfulness.  Help me, Lord, to always remember that You are forever at work in my life.  Amen."