God Has Given Us Responsibilities as Part of Our Blessings – (Proverbs 28:19)

Daily Bible Study
This proverb speaks of character and integrity. And part of our character and integrity is how we handle responsibilities given to us by God. Responsibilities which come as part of life. Moreover, this goes hand in hand with the understanding that we were created by God, in the image of God for His good works which includes providing for those around us. And one of the blessings we have today is the greater number of opportunities for us to provide for ourselves and our families. As illustrated in this proverb being part of an agrarian society gave men the responsibility of taking care of the land. This included tilling the land to prepare for the planting of the crops. It also involved long term planning such as in the rotating of fields, determining which crops to plant and in general being a good steward of what God had given them. This work provided food not only for the family, but for the community as well. So anyone not wanting to take care of their responsibilities affected the prosperity and welfare of the community at large.

Their rebellion against God, by not following through on their responsibilities would not only cause poverty for themselves, but for their family as well. In addition, it would negatively impact the community. When people failed to do their part, society was affected, more so than today. It affected the community because there was less produce available for purchase or barter. Many of these communities had a certain capacity for food production and if someone failed in their harvest the entire community could be affected. Therefore, God's word, especially the proverbs speaks often about hard work. God has a lot to say about people meeting the responsibilities of life. In addition, the Bible tells is it's truly a blessing to have the ability to work and be productive. And it's even more of a blessing to have a family to provide for as well as the means to provide for them. God blesses us with what we need to nourish our families both physically and spiritually in order to help them grow. Therefore, we should treat our families and the opportunity to work as what they truly are, which is a blessing from God. We are to honor God with our honest labor performed in a manner that glorifies God.