DEUT1692 Why man must exert himself to obtain a livelihood. The reason the Creator obliged man to exert himself and search for the means of [obtaining] a livelihood and other necessities is twofold. First, since Divine wisdom demands the trial of the soul with service of God or rebellion against Him, God tries the soul with what will reveal its choice in the matter, namely, with the need and want for that which is external to it--food, drink, clothing, shelter, and sexual relations. He commanded human beings to seek and obtain these requirements through the available means, in specific ways, and at certain times. What the Creator decrees a man should attain of them the man realizes and attains through ample means which are provided him. What the Creator does not decree that he should attain of them he does not attain, and the means are withheld from him. His service or sin is demonstrated through his intent on--and choice of--one to the exclusion of the other, and this then determines reward or punishment, even if he does not carry it out in deed. Second, if a man did not have to trouble and busy himself in seeking means of obtaining his livelihood, he would rebel and chase after what is forbidden, and would pay no attention to what he owes God for His goodness to him, as it says: “They have lyre and harp, timbrel and flute and wine at their feast, and they do not notice God's works, they do not see His handiwork” (Yeshayahu 5:12); “Yeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, thick, and gross. He forsook God Who made him” (Devarim 32:15). [And our Masters], of blessed memory, said: “Excellent is the study of Torah together with a worldly occupation, for labor at both puts sin out of mind. And all Torah without work will in the end be neglected and occasion sin” (Avos 2:2). How much more so is this true of one who has no share in either, who concentrates on neither of these [pursuits]. It is out of His mercy for man that the Creator, May He be exalted, preoccupies him with the affairs of this world and the Hereafter, so that all his life he be absorbed in them and not seek what he does not need and cannot grasp within his intellect—e.g., the matters of the beginning and the end. As the Wise One said, “He has also set the world in their heart, for man will never fathom the work that God has made from beginning to end” (Koheles 3:11). If, however, a person gives priority to the service of God and resolves to fear Him; trust in Him in all his interests, religious and secular; turns away from the despicable things and aspires to good qualities; does not rebel when in comfort nor incline toward leisure; is not swayed by his baser instincts nor seduced by the enchanting things of the world--then he will be relieved of the burden of seeking and searching for a livelihood, since the two reasons [for obliging him to do so] that have been mentioned, trial and rebellion in the midst of prosperity, will have become inapplicable to him. His livelihood will come to him without trouble or weariness, to the extent of his needs and requirements, as it is written: “God will not let the righteous go hungry” (Mishlei 10:3).