God Wants You to Work and Earn Money

Work existed before sin entered the world. This might surprise us because we tend to think of work as part of the curse, something we endure until we can retire and finally rest. Genesis tells a different story. When God placed Adam in the garden, he gave him meaningful work to do: The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it (Genesis 2:15). The garden needed cultivation. It needed care. God designed humans to find purpose in this kind of labor.

The command to work appears even earlier in the creation account. God told the first humans to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion (Genesis 1:28). This wasn't punishment. This was privilege. God invited humanity to join him in bringing order from chaos, to cultivate what he had made, to help creation flourish. When we work, we use the materials and abilities God provides to help others thrive. We build communities. We spread his image throughout the world.