In a recent survey, the Gallup Group discovered that only 47% of American adults find enjoyment in life. Staggeringly, this is down from 87% in 1979. Amazingly, we also live in an abundance of entertainment and leisure, but fewer and fewer adults are finding enjoyment in it. In many ways, our culture has become a pursuit of leisure. Every state has multiple amusement parks, all built and thriving in the quest for entertainment. We see “influencers” on social media brag through videos, photos, and posts about the most stunning vacation, excellent restaurant, or the next “fun thing.” The entertainment industry in America continues to grow year after year. Adults have come to define their success by the leisure they can partake in; beach trips, lake houses, boats, fancy cars, concerts, and all the rest. However, as Gallup has uncovered, most American adults have no enjoyment in life. How can this be? Maybe we have fundamentally misunderstood where enjoyment and satisfaction come from. Perhaps it’s not from pursuing entertainment and leisure but instead from pursuing what God has designed us to be.
From the beginning, God has called man to work. In Genesis, God gave men and women the responsibility of working in the garden.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Genesis 2:15, ESV
Apart from the creative order for humanity, it is the central necessity to work, be productive, and add value through our labor. In other words, God has wired into our DNA a need to work and produce, not simply to consume. There is nothing wrong with leisure and nothing wrong with entertainment, but at the core of these acts is consumption; consumption of television, consumption of food, and so forth. But as we see from God’s Word, we are meant to produce and to add to, not simply consume.
In his letter to the Colossian church, Paul expressed this truth well when he encouraged us to work with the LORD.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men…
Colossians 3:23, ESV
Paul understood the impulse of Genesis 2:15: that every human needs to work and be productive. Do you want to find the greatest enjoyment in life? Then get to work! Be productive! Work your job as unto the LORD, seeking to do the best job possible, regardless if you are a CEO of a Fortune 500 company or a member of a framing crew. If you are a parent, be productive in the raising of your children, working hard to raise them in the fear and admonition of the LORD. If you are a husband, be productive at the work of leading your home, seeking to not only provide financially but also working to lead spiritually. Or as the writer of Ecclesiastes would say,
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…
Ecclesiastes 9:10a, ESV
Why? Because it is in our work, in our production, not our consumption, we have true and lasting satisfaction because this is God’s good design.
Bee-Attitude
Blessed are those who seek to work and produce as unto the Lord because it is they who will find true joy and satisfaction.
Josh Gilliam
Josh Gilliam is the Pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Zebulon, Georgia. His faith and dedication to community are evident in his work. Alongside his wife, Lydia, and their three children, the Gilliam family resides in Griffin, Georgia. Josh is a bi-vocational pastor, owning a local business (Southern Wise, Inc.) in addition to pastoring a church.
