Look in the Old Testament, and listen for the word avodah, and how it unites the ideas of work, labor, craftsmanship, and production with the ideas of worship, service, and ministry:

• Gen. 2:15 - "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."
• Gen. 29 - Jacob working for Laban to win his wives Leah and Rachel
• Exodus 34:21 - Moses renewing the covenant with God says, "Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest time you shall rest."
• 1 Chronicles 28:21 - King David talking to his son, Solomon, saying, "The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing man skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command."
• Psalm 104:23 - in a psalm about God as Creator and Provider, "Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening.
• Exodus 3:12 - And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
• Exodus 8:1 - Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
• Numbers 8:11 - The Lord speaks to Moses and Aaron about how the Levites, the priestly class, will do the service of the Lord.
• Deuteronomy 10:12 - Moses tells his people what the essence of the Law is: "So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul…"
• Joshua 24:15 - Joshua asks all the tribes to renew the covenant, saying, "Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

What a powerful image to think that that the word for working in the fields is the same that was used for worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Israelites understood that work could be a way to honor God and neighbor, to serve God and neighbor, yes to worship God and serve neighbor. Avodah.