Work is not a curse — it is a calling. Before the fall, God placed Adam in the garden “to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). Work is part of God’s original design for human flourishing.
Yet many Christians experience a sacred-secular divide. Sunday feels spiritual; Monday feels mundane. The doctrine of vocation — championed by Martin Luther and the Reformers — demolishes this false dichotomy. Every legitimate occupation, from accounting to zoology, can be an act of worship when performed with excellence and integrity for the glory of God.
Dorothy Sayers wrote, “The church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his spare time, and to come to church on Sundays. What the church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables.”
Practical steps for glorifying God at work include: doing your work with excellence as unto the Lord, treating colleagues with dignity, maintaining integrity even when no one is watching, and looking for opportunities to serve and bless others in your workplace.