Genesis 2:15 – The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work…
Young men, you might be triggered by this but when God puts Adam in the garden in order to work, this was pre-Fall, prior to the curse. God put Adam in the garden to work, He didn’t put him in the garden to vote for a politician who would tax someone else who went to work. It’s a man’s duty to work.
1 Timothy 5:8 says, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” We put this verse on TikTok and it went viral. Not because I read it while doing the latest dance trend. The simple idea that men need to work and provide for their family is mind-blowing in today’s day and time. This verse holds a pretty strong rebuke: If you’re an able-bodied man who chooses not to work, you’re more detestable than someone who has rejected Jesus as their Savior.
In the early 1900’s, a German sociologist named Max Weber came up with an idea called the Protestant ethic and, to him, it was how you achieve the American dream. Protestants started working hard as a form of worship, working six days and resting one day as God modeled during Creation. They started giving their children chores, teaching them how to work. They didn’t see distinctions between sacred and secular work, seeing all work as worship, because Jesus Himself was a carpenter for 90% of His life before starting His public ministry.
By comparison today, I cannot count the number of times I’ve gone to a store and seen a grown, unmarried man accompanied by his mom picking out either clothes or products. He’s about the same age as Jesus when He atoned for the sins of the world, and this guy can’t even drive to a store without his mother.
A record 7 million men ages 25-54 are not working or looking for work and it’s such a growing trend that a term has been created for it – NILF (Not in Labor Force). One in five men ages 25-29 without a biological father present are idle (not in school or work).
How do we get back to the “good old days”? Men need to seek the Father’s heart for their lives. Rather than seeing victimhood as a job description and being an activist as their work, protesting for compensation, they need to recognize that working dignifies and strengthens men. Get off your couch, out of your mom’s basement, and get a job. I promise you and future generations of your family will be better off for it.
If you’re of adult age, are you working to provide for yourself/your family? If not, what do you need to do to get there?