It is important for us to understand rest rightly in our society because we put a lot of confidence into activity and productivity. When we talk about meaningfulness in work we have to be careful to see the worldly ideas that can exist in this. Many people in the world trust in productivity as a means to their “meaningfulness”. It’s very easy for us to fall into this wrong mindset when we aim to inspire people to true godly meaning in work.

The work God aims at for us is the work of righteousness and godliness. It is not selfish ambition and conceit. It is the work of true holiness and doing what is good and humble, abandoning the works of ambition and self seeking. These are what the world trusts in to be meaningful.

In our world we have much that goes on telling us “how” to have a meaningful life, and much of it is rooted in fulfilling our dreams, or some end for ourselves. These things look impressive and noble, but they are selfish and proud. People choose these over the work of righteousness and godliness. Where people choose to serve a status or gain, rather than serving the great purpose of goodness and light.

One thing we should also see is how we can covet meaningful work. Many people are inspired to live a meaningful life, and then they quickly run to covet “meaningful” work!

Covetousness is the sin of seeing something for ourselves at the cost of our neighbor. And many Christians boast of not coveting gold and luxury, yet they covet the far greater things of God! They covet meaningful work, study, and purposeful living.

True godliness will not have this error to it. It does not covet anything, but is rooted in a desire for true righteousness and godliness in all people. It loves people so as to seek the same opportunities for others that they seek for themselves. Anything else is against love for our neighbor.

Part of this covetousness is found in seeking an escape from lowly work. The work of care or labor. Many have tried to delegate these things to people enslaved or women in order to seek some “meaningfulness” for themselves. We cannot be too cautious to guard against such bitter selfishness and sin.

We must understand that the true work is in living for God, and living for God is doing what is good and right. It is rooted in a desire for righteousness, a desire for truth in the souls of all people. And a person’s glory in this work is never based upon some status, but upon the true quality of their work, both within and without.