Work by the Sweat of Our Brow is a scripturally grounded exploration of labor, stewardship, rest, bodily care, later-life significance, obedience, and the finish of a servant before God. Beginning in creation and moving through the fall, the patriarchs, Moses, the kings, the Levites, Christ, the apostles, and the judgment seat of Christ, Patrick E. Barber Sr. examines whether Scripture supports the modern idea of retirement as release from meaningful purpose.

The result is a serious and spiritually searching work that argues that work belongs to creation, toil belongs to the curse, grace redeems labor rather than abolishing it, and the faithful are not ordinarily shown withdrawing from stewardship, but continuing until transfer, death, or divine release. At its center stands Moses, whose life proves that long labor is honorable, but obedience remains everything.