Image God Through Your WorkSample

Does it surprise you to think of work as being eternal?

It may be because most of us haven’t thought about what life will be like in the new heaven and earth. Briefly, the Bible teaches us that when we die, we enter what’s called an intermediate state. We’re not where we were (in our earthly bodies), and we’re not where we’re going (the new heavens and earth with resurrected bodies). In this intermediate state, our spirits are with the Lord in the place that most of us call heaven (2 Cor. 5:8).

But after Jesus returns, He’ll change our bodies to be new ones like His, and this earth and the curse it’s groaned under since the fall will be reversed. We’ll be back where Adam and Eve were, but so much better. Instead of the garden being one isolated locality, it will be transformed into a city filled with working worshippers that encompass the whole earth (Rev. 21:2). And it will be populated with millions and millions of people who have been redeemed by the work of Jesus.

And what will we do? We’ll rule and reign with Christ. Remember how Adam and Eve were to rule over all the earth and subdue it? That’s what we’ll be doing too.

We won’t spend our days floating on a cloud or drifting down a lazy river. We’ll be busy, but our work won’t be doomed to futility. If we set out to learn about a nebula or how to play the music of Mozart, we won’t be frustrated. If we desire to paint a sunset or cultivate a particular species of fruit tree, we’ll not find it ruined by dried-out brushes or aphids. We will work, but our work will flourish. And in that, we’ll learn the true joy of work.

In addition, the work relationships we have with one another won’t be marred by selfish ambition, misunderstanding, laziness, or sexism. We’ll love one another like sisters and brothers, and we’ll be happy at one another’s successes rather than envious or self-hating.

While it’s true that work has gotten a bad reputation here on this side of the fall and the new earth, we can rejoice that the things we’re called to do today, mundane as they might seem, are actually part of the Lord’s grand scheme to glorify Himself and remake this world into a place of flourishing and deep peace.

The work we’re doing today will somehow bring God’s glorious kingdom to this earth, and we’ll rejoice in it forever (Rev. 21:24). It’s not in vain. No matter if it seems that way right now, know it’s not for nothing. Knowing that the Lord sees what you’re doing and will oversee it for the kingdom to come. You’re storing up treasure in heaven, where God will certainly reward you.

Thank you for reading this devotional plan, which is based on Women & Work: Bearing God’s Image and Joining in His Mission through our Work (published by B&H Books, 2023, and edited by Courtney Moore). Get more information at womenandworkbook.com