As students, we feel like we are in the same, monotonous routine. Monday through Friday we wake up, get ready for the day, go to classes, go to chapel, go to more classes, and, for some of us, work after classes or mixed throughout the day.

In our daily routine, it’s easy to not think about the meaning behind our routine or work.

We often think of work as something that became necessary because of the Fall in Genesis. However, this is the complete opposite.

In 2012, Tim Keller published a book called Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work.Keller’s purpose was to show Christians the purpose of work.

Every Good Endeavor covers three sections: the nature of work, work after the Fall and the redemption of work.

Keller calls work “important and basic” because work was the first event to occur in the Bible: Creation. Keller also makes the point that work brings meaning to our life. In Genesis, God commanded Adam to care for the garden and its creatures – to work.

Towards the middle of the book, Keller shifts into the point that the Fall made work frustrating because of sin. Our work can no longer completely fulfill its purposes.

On the other hand, we must make sure that we do not make work the full meaning of our lives so much that it becomes an idol in place of God.

Our view of work should not stay at that level, however. Because of Christ, our work can have meaning and purpose again.

Since we have a Christian worldview, we must also use it when we view work; we cannot pick and choose when we use it.

Keller uses a great analogy to show how Christians need to view the world and work.

“It is a mistake to think that the Christian worldview is operating only when we are doing…overtly Christian activities. Instead, think of the gospel as a set of glasses through which you look at everything else in the world.”

We at The Collegian encourage you to keep work in mind as something that is good and from God.

As you go throughout your daily schedule, instead of thinking about the stress and discomfort that work or homework may bring, consider the dignity and purpose of your work as a being created in the image of God.