There has been so much discussion about work and welfare over the past few weeks that you might have missed a really fascinating story that has been making waves both in the secular and the religious press. The headline said it all: ‘Books about religion are bucking the trend of falling interest in non-fiction works’.

That is quite amazing and it would seem that publishers are linking this to the increasing spirituality of Generation Z, ie young people who were born between 1997 and 2012. The figures are remarkable. Bible sales in Britain for example surged by 87 per cent between 2019 and 2024.

I can only pray that this increasingly spiritual generation will allow the Bible to shape its thinking about the challenges we face as a nation. If they do, they will see that when it comes to welfare for example it is patently clear that God wants us to care for the poor and the vulnerable. As the prophet Amos pointed out, true worship should lead to justice, righteousness, and love for our neighbour.

But they will also see that the Bible has much to say about work too. To begin with it shows us that work is in our DNA because we have been created in the image of the ‘divine worker’ who rested from His labour on the seventh day, and His Son Jesus was a carpenter. In the light of this then it is interesting to note that Pope John Paul II suggested that “Work is one of the characteristics that distinguish man from the rest of creatures”.

The Bible looks at the question of motivation too because it tells us that we should do all we can to please God which will inevitably mean giving of our best. Dr Martin Luther King summed it up well when he told a group of high school students that if they ended up working as street sweepers, they should aim to sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures!

It is important to appreciate that work need not be synonymous with salary. We can work even if we are not being paid for doing so. President Carter exemplified this. After leaving office, he and his wife spent countless hours helping build houses for needy families. In other words they worked for the benefit of others and not to line their own pockets.

Above all though, I would suggest it is worth remembering that even if we couldn’t move a muscle we could still work – by praying. The Victorian philanthropist George Müller certainly worked hard at prayer, and as I understand it because of that he was able to build five orphanages and care for more than 10,000 children. He clearly understood what can happen when we turn to the God of miracles and ask Him to help us.

Come to think about it, the current interest in the Bible shows that He is obviously still at work among us even in post Christian Britain.