Get a Job

Get a Job
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So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Genesis 1:27, 28

Man was uniquely created in the image of God, unlike the animals, which were made before him. Although animals also began to multiply and fill the earth, only man was given the commandment to have children.

The first commandment given to man was to have a family.

When God commanded the man to have children. He imparted his purpose in life. The family is one of the reasons man is on the earth! Furthermore, God intended the family to be a blessing not a curse.

We are to raise up generations after us to be a light to the world by spreading the Gospel. Then, as they fulfill their potential and purpose in life, our children are blessings to us as well.

The activities of both Adam and Eve, the man and the woman, were intended to build and support the family. However, before God put Adam to sleep, removed his rib, made Eve's body, and brought her to him He firmly established Adam's role — the role of husband and father.

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden: and there he put the man whom he had formed...

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress [work] it and to keep [protect] it.

Genesis 2:8,15

I am sure after Adam was given the promise of a family, he expected to see a female of his own species. But unlike the animals who went off to mate, Adam was told to go to work in the garden and protect it.

Adam had to learn to provide income and protection for the family he was yet to have. The work ethic was already a part of his life when Eve was brought to him in marriage.

Before God gave Adam a family, He gave him a job! A godly principle is taught in this message: Young men should seek a job with steady income before ever thinking about marriage. When the work ethic is cultivated in a young man's life, he is more likely to see himself as the sole provider for the family.

This gives great security to his wife, who will be free to set her main priority on the home and children. This is God's pattern, which He established from the beginning.

Women, let this be a warning not to seriously consider marrying a man who does not have a steady job and aspirations of a career. Do not fall for the line that you can "live off love."

Grocery stores and mortgage companies do not accept "love checks." If your boyfriend tells you, "If you love me, you'll marry me," you tell him, "If you love me, you'll get a job!"

Real godly love desires to provide and protect. Aside from spiritual leadership in the home, financial responsibility and integrity from the husband is the wife's greatest security in the marriage relationship. This security is the environment in which she can be free to raise and train children.

For a long time, marriage security has been defined only in terms of love, commitment, and fidelity while the work ethic has been overlooked. Unconditional love, devotion, and marital faithfulness to the marriage relationship are all very important, but hard work and a desire to provide must also be present for the home and family to be all God intended them to be.

God did not give Adam a book on love and devotion first. He gave him a job first. He first learned to provide. Today, this principle has been turned upside down by the world and has dramatically affected the Church.

The role of the woman raising and training children has been diminished, and the woman is now the
co-provider in most families and the sole provider in many families. The husband and father of today often spends more time in the home raising and training the children while the wife and mother is caught up in the pursuit of a career. This upended relationship is rarely being spoken against, and in most cases it is even endorsed by Bible-believing churches.

Worse than this, if both father and mother are totally wrapped up in their careers, the children receive little teaching and discipline from either parent. Under the term "freedom" or "liberation," men and women are leaving their godly assignments for a mess of pottage!

I have heard some churches teach that the traditional role of the woman as a submitted homemaker and wife was introduced by the curse. But the Bible makes it clear that homemaking for the woman and having a career for the man were part of God's plan before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. Their roles, which God established in their innocence did not change through their fall.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow [pain] and thy conception; in sorrow [pain] thou shalt bring forth children; and [yet] thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Genesis 3:16

The curse placed on woman was not childbearing, but pressure and pain during childbirth. Because her role in life was to be a helpmeet to her husband and have children and raise them, the curse brought opposition to that role.

Some women have taught that submission to the husband was a result of the fall. They base that teaching on the end of this verse. But God had already commanded her to be her husband's helpmeet before the fall. At the end of this verse, God reveals that her submissive status has not changed when He says, "yet thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."

The husband has always been designed by God to be the head of the wife and family (1 Timothy 2:13). This is true not only before the fall, but during and after it as well. That is because God always operates under the principle of authority and submission.

This principle has always existed in the Godhead, where there is no sin, and it can be understood in simple terms: The Father sent the Son, and the Son sent the Holy Spirit.

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow [pain] shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee...In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, til thou return unto the ground...

Genesis 3:17-19

Adam violated the principle of authority and submission when he obeyed the whim of his wife instead of the Word of God, and God held Adam responsible for the fall, because Adam was in charge. (Romans 5)

The curses that came upon Adam and Eve, and all the men and women who were born thereafter, were not work and childbearing, respectively, but opposition to work and childbearing.

Man worked before the fall, will continue to work throughout the days of the curse, and even into the millennial reign of Jesus. Man always has and always will work. The result of the fall for the man was difficulty, adversity, and sometimes pain in his career. Now his business would be faced with opposition. He could still prosper, but it would cost him some sweat.

For woman, opposition came against her purpose in life, which was to bear and raise children. She would still do these things, but pain and struggle would be added to them.

The opposition against both the man and the woman came in their area of greatest personal fulfillment. A man’s greatest area of personal fulfillment is in his life’s work, whereas a woman’s greatest area of personal fulfillment is in having and raising children.

Part of the genetic makeup of a man is the desire to work and produce results. The conquering and subduing aspiration inside a man is fulfilled in his occupation. Despite the opposition, he can and will overcome.

Part of the genetic makeup of a woman is the intense desire to be a wife and mother. All of the efforts of radical feminism today will not erase this! Despite the discomfort during pregnancy, pain during the delivery of babies, and opposition of the world to raising good children, the woman still accepts the challenge.

Turn a little girl loose in a room filled with toys, and she will usually head for the dolls. Her desire is to nurture, teach, and take care of them. Turn a little boy loose in the same room, and he will head for the cars and building blocks. His desire is to tear the toys apart and try to put them back together. The conquering mentality is there.

A woman will never be as fulfilled with a job and a career as with raising children. A man will never be as fulfilled staying at home as he will with a career.

This does not mean a woman cannot work or ever have a career! As long as the home is first on the priority list, the woman can accomplish many things outside the home, including work. The important thing is that she works from her fulfillment, not to be fulfilled. This was true of the virtuous woman (Proverbs 31:16), who worked to bring a better life to her family.

By the same standard, there is nothing wrong with a husband working around the house and taking care of his children from time to time! If his career brings him fulfillment he can remain at home and enjoy taking care of the children while his wife has a break to do other things.

The main priority for both the man and the woman is the home.

Satan's attack today is primarily on the man; it is not a pro-woman movement, but an anti-man movement. The same devil who was at work in the garden is still at work today.

Just as he worked through the woman to dethrone the man in that day, he is working through certain factions of the women's movement to malign the man's leadership in the home in our day.

We are seeing the rise of the strong, independent woman and more and more weak and wimpy men. Our families and our nation have lost their leaders!

In the light of Scripture, “...the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church” (Ephesians 5:23), it is time for godly men to rise up as the leaders of their homes, businesses, and nation. Men are made by God to be leaders, and nothing will ever change the fact that the husband is the head of the family!

God’s design brings true fulfillment to the husband and the wife, and His blueprint for the family produces godly, stable children for the next generation. This is God’s plan! Accordingly, women should set their desires primarily on the home and family, and men – GET A JOB!

Bob Yandian

If you like this article, check out Wisdom for the Family or his book, Family Defined, at the BYM Store.