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God calls his chosen people to rest in him and then to work for him. We can't work to earn God's favor; salvation is "not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Eph. 2:9). But we show our gratitude by doing the good works that God has prepared for us to walk in (10). Christians are workers. And the good works that we must do are not only special works of charity, like going on mission trips or tithing at church. All of life offers opportunities to perform work that flows from faith, conforms to God's law, and tends to God's glory is a good work. It should be quite obvious then that our work lives are an arena for good works. Work is not the only expression of vocation but it a large part of it. After all "Work gets the largest single block of our lives." To live vocationally we have to know how to think about and perform the work that God calls us to.
We could define work simply as labor or toil. John Stott offered a more expansive definition. Work is "the expenditure of manual or mental energy in service, which brings fulfillment to the worker, benefit to the community, and glory to God." This is helpful. Work is toil. But it is also toil to a purpose. And it is done in relation to the God who made us.