Issue 064
It’s possible to be addicted to almost anything today. From the lottery to the video game; from the card to the horse. You can go to the dogs or come to the casino and, while you’re at it, take your tipple, whether it is wine or whiskey.
It’s also possible to be addicted to work. Addiction has many faces: the face of pleasure or consolation; the face of purpose or fear. But whatever the public face, addiction is not a healthy state of mind. The person who cannot go home from work or cannot let go of work when at home has lost some of life’s plot. Although God has delegated responsibility for this world to us in the form of work, hHe has not made us just to work. Work should be meaningful, but it is not the meaning of life.
Sometimes we come to believe that we are so indispensable and our work so important that our presence is required for all seasons and our solutions must be dispensed daily with our souls to the inadequates around us.
Underneath this there is a pride. God, who is most understanding and tolerant of our weaknesses and foibles, is not impressed by our workaholism.
“In vain you rise up early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat,” the Psalmist shouts. Why? Because God builds houses (and businesses and reputations) and God watches over cities (and projects and staff) and “He gives sleep to those He loves”. “Self made people”, the saying goes, “worship their creator”, but that is a vicious circle – a workaholic circle. When we worship the true God and we find that there is a tier above us where the real action is, we can have a piece of the action, but we’re not designed to cope with the job lot.
Psalm 127:1-2
1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labour in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.
2 In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat, for
he grants sleep to those he loves.
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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