“Work is the meaning of life.” — David Bahnsen
That’s a bold statement.
In fact, the first time I read it, I wasn’t sure what to do with it.
Work is the meaning of life?
Really?
Most of us have been taught something quite different.
Work is often portrayed as a necessary evil. Something we tolerate so we can pay our bills, fund our hobbies, enjoy retirement, and eventually escape the very thing we spend most of our lives doing.
Others swing to the opposite extreme.
Work becomes identity.
Purpose.
Status.
Significance.
The thing that proves our worth.
Both views miss something important.
Scripture presents work as neither a curse nor a god.
Work is a gift.
A calling.
A stewardship.
One of the primary ways we image our Creator and participate in His purposes in the world.
When we recover that perspective, work begins to look very different.
The Search for Meaningful Work
Few questions generate more anxiety than:
What should I do with my life?
We want clarity.
Direction.
Calling.
Purpose.
We want to find the work we love.
But what if we’ve misunderstood how calling usually works?
Liuan Huska observes:
“We often repeat the exciting points of these stories—Moses rising against Pharaoh and Jesus healing the lame and raising the dead—rather than the years of preparation or confusion that preceded them.”
That’s true.
We remember the burning bush.
We forget the forty years in the wilderness.
We remember David becoming king.
We forget the years of obscurity.
We remember the ministry of Jesus.
We rarely consider the decades of ordinary life that preceded it.
Many of us imagine calling as a lightning strike.
God often treats it more like a sunrise.
Gradual.
Steady.
Unfolding.
The work we eventually love may not be where we begin.
In fact, it may not be something we would have chosen for ourselves at all.
Sometimes the work finds us.
Sometimes God leads us through a series of ordinary responsibilities that gradually reveal extraordinary purpose.
That means we should be careful not to dismiss where we are today simply because it isn’t where we hope to be tomorrow.
Find the Work You Love—or Love the Work You Find?
This tension is worth sitting with.
Should we pursue our dream job?
Or should we patiently receive the work God places before us?
The answer is probably both.
Scripture encourages initiative.
But it also encourages patience.
Many people spend so much time searching for the perfect calling that they fail to be faithful in their present one.
Others become so comfortable where they are that they stop growing altogether.
Wisdom lives between these extremes.
The goal is not merely finding fulfilling work.
The goal is becoming the kind of person who can faithfully serve God wherever He places them.
Because calling is often discovered through obedience.
Not self-discovery.
Work Begins in Genesis
One of the most important truths about work appears before sin enters the world.
Adam was given work before the Fall.
That matters.
Work is not part of the curse.
Frustration is.
Thorns are.
Sweat is.
Toil is.
But work itself existed before any of those things.
God created humanity in His image and immediately gave us responsibility.
To cultivate.
To steward.
To create.
To serve.
To build.
To exercise dominion.
David Bahnsen argues that work helps us:
- discover purpose
- create community
- reveal our God-given dignity
He’s right.
Because work is one of the primary ways we reflect the Creator.
God works.
And because we are made in His image, we work too.
Not merely to survive.
But to participate in His ongoing work in the world.
Aspire to Make Much of God
This is where many conversations about work go wrong.
We begin with ourselves.
Our fulfillment.
Our happiness.
Our success.
Our preferences.
Scripture begins elsewhere.
Marshall Segal writes:
“Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Whatever you do.
Not just ministry.
Not just church work.
Not just explicitly spiritual work.
Whatever you do.
The primary purpose of work is not self-expression.
It is worship.
Work becomes meaningful when it is connected to God’s glory.
A teacher can do that.
A plumber can do that.
An accountant can do that.
A stay-at-home mother can do that.
A retiree can do that.
The question is not:
What job do you have?
The question is:
What are you making much of through your work?
Aspire to Do God’s Work
Your work is God’s work because you cannot do it apart from Him.
Every ability.
Every opportunity.
Every skill.
Every open door.
Every breath.
Comes from Him.
This means success is not merely measured by outcomes.
It is measured by faithfulness.
Did you trust Him?
Did you honor Him?
Did you serve others?
Did you steward what He entrusted to you?
Those are the questions that matter.
How Should You Be Doing More?
A few years ago, I found myself wrestling with this exact question.
How should I be doing more?
I wasn’t expecting an answer.
At least not the one I received.
Out of nowhere, friends involved in anti-trafficking ministry invited us to Florida.
Within days, we were immersed in stories and realities that exposed the devastating depth of human trafficking and exploitation.
It felt as though I had asked God how deep the ocean was.
And instead of answering, He put me on a boat, took me to the middle of the ocean, and threw me in.
It’s deep.
That experience changed the question.
I no longer wondered whether there were ways to do more.
I had seen them.
The challenge became deciding what faithfulness required.
Sometimes God answers our questions by expanding our vision.
Not through explanation.
Through exposure.
Prioritize Value Over Return
When most people think about investing, they think about return.
What will I get back?
But wise stewardship asks another question:
What will thrive because I invested?
There is a profound difference.
As Philip Fisher observed:
“The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.”
The same can happen with our lives.
We become experts at measuring cost while remaining blind to value.
We ask:
- What will this pay?
- How much will this cost me?
- What will I get in return?
Instead of asking:
- What is truly valuable?
- What will grow because of this investment?
- What will flourish?
The Kingdom mindset places value ahead of return.
Not because return is unimportant.
But because value is more important.
Don’t Build Bigger Barns
Jesus told the story of a wealthy man whose solution to abundance was simple:
Build bigger barns.
Store more.
Keep more.
Accumulate more.
The problem wasn’t prosperity.
The problem was purpose.
God’s blessings were never intended to terminate with us.
We are blessed to be a blessing.
The resources we possess—our time, talents, opportunities, influence, and finances—have all been entrusted to us for stewardship.
The question is not how much we can keep.
The question is how much we can invest into things that matter.
Work for What Lasts
One day every career will end.
Every title will disappear.
Every accomplishment will fade.
Every resume will eventually become irrelevant.
That sounds discouraging.
Until we remember that some things last forever.
People.
Souls.
Character.
The Kingdom of God.
Marshall Segal writes:
“Work for what lasts.”
That’s exactly right.
The Christian doesn’t merely work for promotion.
Or recognition.
Or comfort.
Or retirement.
We work for what lasts.
And because we do, even ordinary work takes on extraordinary significance.
Final Thoughts
The goal of work is not simply to find the perfect job.
The goal is faithfulness.
Some people will find work they love.
Others will learn to love the work they find.
Both can honor God.
Because meaningful work is not ultimately about the position.
It is about the posture.
God calls us to work because He works.
To create because He creates.
To serve because He serves.
To invest because He invests.
To build because He builds.
And when we understand that, work becomes more than a paycheck.
More than a career.
More than a means of survival.
It becomes an opportunity to join God in what He is doing in the world.
That is work with purpose.
That is work that lasts.