Even the first man on the planet had work. But what most fail to realize is that Adam had spiritual work and natural work. His spiritual work was obeying the word of God. His natural work was to tend to and protect that which God had committed to his hands; the garden and the woman. Are we neglecting our spiritual work? What Adam did in the natural was based on what God had said. Some of us are doing things in the natural that is not based on what God has specifically said for us to do.
The Bible contains the Word of God. To obey what God is saying or has said we must read and study the Bible. The error comes in when we only study to know and not to obey. “Study to show thyself approved unto God (not man), a workman (a man who works is a man who studies) that needeth not to be ashamed (are you ashamed of where you are, do you believe you should be further along than you are?), rightly dividing the word of truth.
I can help you answer the question if whether or not you are neglecting your spiritual work. If you are a hearer and not a doer then it is safe to say you are.
James 1: 22-25
“But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
Now, I know the bible also says that if a man doesn’t work neither, should he eat (2 Thess 3: 10). Natural work is right and good. But it also says that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. This means we must labor in the Word of God to make sure we are eating every word that God is speaking. Also know, the wages you earn from a natural job is not just to eat, or meet your natural needs it is also to build the Kingdom of God. Be a cheerful and generous giver.
Your employer gives you a description of your duties and responsibilities. When you have fulfilled them, efficiently and proficiently, you earn your wages. Your natural job is a principle to help you understand that your spiritual employer is God and when you have fulfilled your duties and responsibilities to him you earn wages and benefits etc…
Some you eat and some you sow. This is why God says, “He gives bread to the eater and seed to the sower.” (Isaiah 55: 10)” This vernacular can be understood by those who lived by farming land or who understood the principle of sowing and reaping. The purpose for the seed is to sow for the things you lack and for greater harvest. Though industry has expanded into other areas such as wood mills, steel mills, and automobile manufacturing etc… the principle can still be applied.
God himself uses this to explain the principle of His word. The very next verse in Isaiah 55 verse 11 reads, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. The spiritual work is the foundation or framework for your natural work. So if your natural work is not producing what you expect then you may need to check your framework.
Principles will work for anyone who will operate in them. What it will produce is different for different people. “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. (Matt 13:23)” Remember iniquity will complicate your harvest.