Too Much Work = No Time For God

As I was making a roux yesterday for gumbo, I caught up on two days' worth of Bible reading. The Old Testament reading was a familiar story - the first few chapters of Exodus. In chapter 5 - I read about Pharaoh increasing the work load of the Israelites by forcing them to gather their own straw, but still create the same number of bricks. But verses 8 and 9 caught my attention in a way that I had never before noticed.

You see - Pharaoh wasn't just punishing the Israelites for asking to leave (as I'd always thought) - but he also realized that if the Israelites were working harder - if they were putting in more hours on the job - then they wouldn't have any free time to listen to Moses talk about God. Pharaoh called it "deceptive words" - but to him - that's what talk about God was. And it worked... You see - in verses 20 and 21 - after the Israelites realized that Pharaoh would not relent - many of them turned against Moses - and spoke out against God.

We could learn a lot from Pharaoh. While he made those comments - in an attempt to reduce the worship of God - if we reverse them - we can worship God more and better. You see - many Christians use work (jobs, housework, schoolwork, etc) as an excuse not to worship or not to pray or not to read their Bible. And while most work certainly has to be done - it can never interfere with our relationship with God. In my opinion, the Devil is using the same techniques that Pharaoh did - 3,000 or more years ago - by convincing us that work is more important that God. Our response then - is to be like Moses in verse 22 and following - and turn to God when the work becomes burdensome - and pray for deliverance. Far from pushing us away from God - our work should push us to God.

One final example. I started this post by noting that I was reading the Bible while stirring my roux. I could have stared at the flour and oil mixture for 75 minutes and gotten upset about how long it was taking to turn brown, but instead I chose to read my Bible and then talk to my wife. My work - instead of just filling my day - became an opportunity to grow closer to God. I encourage you to find a way to do the same.