Let us imagine a society where machines and robots rule in the workplace, giving people the time for limitless leisure and the ability to fill their days with endless personal freedom. There would be no more stress, pressure and drudgery due to the work environment, no more having to meet deadlines or answer to a boss. Instead, America’s most common jobs — which are retail salesperson, cashier, food and beverage server and office clerk — which employ 15.4 million people, or 10% of the workforce, would be taken over by automation. In fact, Oxford researchers have forecasted that machines might be able to do half of all U. S. jobs within two decades! There are already robots in the operating room and in warehouses, so it’s easy to imagine them behind fast-food counters, at gas stations, supermarkets and retail stores. Self-driving cars would crowd the highways and Amazon drones would fill the skies, replacing millions of drivers, warehouse stockers and retail workers. A handful of skilled workers might subsidize a universal basic income for tens of millions of people, allowing them to live the utopian lifestyle of a prolonged and permanent vacation.
Peaceful or Problematic?
But would large-scale freedom from work promote man’s well-being, or would it be a social disaster? Would it bring the happiness and peace of mind that man is searching for, or would it bring frustration and misery?
History gives us a true-life example in Youngstown, Ohio. After World War II, the steel industry moved abroad, causing the collapse of the steel industry in the city. When the Campbell Works mill closed in September, 1977, it was the start of widespread unemployment. Over the next five years, the city lost 50,000 jobs and $1.3 billion in manufacturing income. Not only was there an economic breakdown, but there was also a cultural breakdown. Depression, spousal abuse and suicide became much more prevalent. The caseload of the area’s mental-health-care center tripled within a decade. The city built four prisons in the mid 1990s — a rare growth industry.
That same dissatisfaction even applies to people who make their own choice to lounge around and not to work. Some researchers have coined the term “guilty couch potato” to describe people who turn to media for relaxation all the while feeling worthless due to their time-wasting. One stunning stat says that retired seniors spend about 50 hours a week watching television. Many profess to be miserable that they aren’t doing some form of worthwhile work.
The Right Kind of Rest
Did you know that not only does God work, but He made man to work as well? After God created the world, we are told that “He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made” (Genesis 2:22And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (Genesis 2:2)). Later in the chapter we read, “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed” (Genesis 2:88And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (Genesis 2:8)). But God did not put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to live a life of idleness and slothfulness. We are told that He put “him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:1515And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Genesis 2:15)). Work adds meaning and purpose to our lives; it also brings in income and produces goods for use and sale. Scripture speaks very strongly against idleness and laziness. Second Thessalonians 3:10 states “that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” God in His wisdom knew from the beginning that work was for man’s physical, psychological and social well-being.
Where can man find true rest, happiness and peace? The Lord’s loving invitation is, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)). But how do we come unto Him? Romans 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9) promises, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Those who repent of their sins, putting their trust in Jesus’ finished work on Calvary’s cross, can be confident that “in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:1111Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. (Psalm 16:11)).
Discover God’s simple way to give us true rest in A Call From Afar.