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Author Richard Foster tells how, as a teenager, he signed up for an internship in Alaska, thinking he would have the adventure of "working on the first high school above the Arctic Circle." The adventure turned into hard work, however, and Foster found himself digging a sewer line through the frozen tundra. An Aleut native who stopped by for a few minutes commented to Foster, "You are digging a ditch to the glory of God." Those words changed Foster's perspective; every chunk of earth became progress "to the glory of God."
Caught up in mundane tasks, humanity sometimes forgets that work is for the glory of God. But in Genesis 2:15 (NIV), the Bible tells us that "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." Before sin entered the picture, while the perfection of God's Creation existed before mankind's Fall, God gave Adam something to do in Eden; he was to "work it and take care of it." Later, as part of the curse for sin, Adam learned that his work would be difficult, that the earth would no longer cooperate with his efforts and that it would be "By the sweat of your brow (that) you will eat your food until you return to the ground..." (Genesis 3:18). Work itself wasn't the curse; the necessity of working just to eat and finding the work difficult - that was the curse!
In Colossians 3:23-24, the Apostle Paul writes, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Fly over the Statue of Liberty, and you'll notice the careful detail in the strands of hair on top of Lady Liberty's head, gathered into a braid at the back. The statue stands 305 feet tall, and at the time the statue was dedicated in 1886, air travel was only a dream. As far as designer Francis Bartholdi knew, no one but God would ever see the top of Lady Liberty's head. But that's the point: God would see. Bartholdi didn't do his best work merely to impress men.
Those who work for God's glory enjoy their work in ways that people who work only for money can't imagine, and they often produce better results because they "put their heart in it." Former NFL Head Coach Chuck Noll said, "The mercenaries will always beat the draftees, but the volunteers will crush them both." Don't make the mistake, however, of believing that your work must be perfect in order to win God's approval. God just wants to see you become the best He created you to be. Henry van Dyke said, "The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sing best."
Since God gave us the gift of work and allows us to express our hearts through the work we do, it's possible that work may continue in eternity. Several years ago, a dying woman asked me to visit to plan her funeral. As our conversation shifted to the topic of Heaven, she said that she didn't "think that Heaven is just sitting around singing "praise Jesus" all the time. God isn't an egotist so He doesn't need to hear that for all eternity." She admitted that she thought we'd get pretty bored with that anyway. When she asked if I thought that was heresy, I assured her that many Bible scholars believe that, in Heaven, we will return to what God intended for mankind in Eden — that we will be able to serve God by working because we want to, not because we have to. 2 Timothy 2:11-12 says, "Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him." In his description of Heaven in Revelation 22:3, John's angelic spokesman says, "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him." "Reign" and "serve" are active terms, not words that suggest just singing praises to God.
My friend told me that she hoped the Lord would let her garden in Heaven. She longed to grow roses to show her love to God.