Musing
– Does your “Avodah” determine who are you becoming?
Most of life is spent making
or doing things and we call it our “work.”
And many of us “worship” on Sunday.
Why did God use the same Hebrew word “Avodah”
for both “work” and “worship”?
The Hebrew letters for Avodah hdwbu ) (R to L) Ayin Veth Vav Daleth
Hei. These characters symbolically translate
to “See & Know” the “House”
is “Secured” to the “Door” to “God’s
breath.”
Avodah is first mentioned in Gen 2:4-5 “… God made the earth … and there was no man to work the ground”
And in Joshua 24:15 “…But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
And in Exodus 8:1 God said “…Let my people go, so that they may worship
me.”
What is our attitude when
we “work”? I’m reminded of the three
bricklayers who were asked the question “What are you doing?” The first responded “I’m laying brick.” The second answered “I’m building a
wall.” And the third said enthusiastically
“I’m building a cathedral.” Could it be that our work shapes us because it is an
expression of our worship? Our work is
of value. Our loving Father God cares
about our work because he delights in the results of the work of His children. Why
do parents enjoy watching their children doing creative things, like building a
Lego house? Our work transforms us. We
become who we are because of what we do; our work shapes us because it is an
expression of our worship.
Years ago while working
for a lower-limb prosthetics company, we realized we had negative motivation in
the workplace. When I asked employees
“What do you do here?” the typical response was “…making money for the owner.” That attitude did not exude motivation! We changed that cultural answer to “Helping
people walk” and thus their avodah
became more of a combination of both work and worship.
The Psalmist in Psalm
115:4-8 says “But their idols are silver
and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak,… Those who make them will be like them, and so
will all who trust in them.” The Psalmist’s concern was that those who make
and worship idols will become like them. Instead of fully alive human beings who are
living images of the Living Creator God, they are becoming less-than-human
caricatures like the inanimate pieces of rock and wood used in their work of
idol-making.
It is all too easy to
believe and behave as though our work and our workplace are disassociated from
any kind of worship. We can easily find ourselves practicing the absence of
God!
The Psalmist also reminds
us of what is at stake in our work. If we are to become fully human, we must
learn to worship the Living God rather than letting our work focus us on less
worthy worldly ends. We risk abdicating
our God-given humanity by de-basing how we practice our work. No doubt, discerning who and what we are
worshiping requires continual refocusing of our worship while at the “work”
place. Only
our Living Loving Creator Father God is worthy of both our worship and our work.
Points to
ponder
Is our work done simply to
make a profit, to make money? Why do you
work?
How does your work shape
the person you are?
How is your work an
expression of worship? Who or what do you worship at work?
How well do we take Sunday into Monday?
“For
every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.” Heb.
3:4
Yosef a.k.a.
Joe Brusherd, March 22, 2016
Author: “Hebraic Insights” “Biblical Marriage” “Musings v.1 – A
Victorious Life”
“Musings v.2 – The Torah and New Testament” Weekly “Hebraic Musings” www.InsightsByYosef.com
“Musings v.2 – The Torah and New Testament” Weekly “Hebraic Musings” www.InsightsByYosef.com
According to Wikipedia – Avodah
(Hebrew: hdwbu ), is a Hebrew word, literally meaning "work". In a
modern context, usually refers to business-type activities … and, more
traditionally, serving God. In its
original, traditional sense, "avodah" was applied to sacrifices
offered in the Temple in Jerusalem. … to describe the epitome of a sacrificial
rite i.e., the … service of The High Priest on Yom Kippur.
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