Hey, do you got a second? Sure you do, you are an American.
No country in the world throughout history has had the amount of free time that we Americans do. We have made it our goal to get things done efficiently and effectively. As a result we have spawned the automobile, the microwave, the computer (and the blessed Internet--thank you Al Gore), and,perhaps the epitome of time saving utensils, the clapper.
As a result of our technological enterprises and advancements we've got time. No longer do we have to work for our daily bread. Should our pantry not have our Sugar Smacks all we need to do is walk down the street to the bagel shop. Hours spent in labor are reduced to a 8 hour day (compared to 12-16 hour days in many other countries), and the rest of the day is spent doing.....yeah that's right, nothing.
That is an overstatement, for sure. But we must admit that we have an excessive amount of leisure time. While a holy resting is a gift from the Lord and necessary for the refreshment of the mind and body, too much leisure can (and does) lead to the vice of idleness.
And America is becoming a nation of "Dr. Do Little's." Young people in particular spend countless hours surfing the net for no apparent reason. Adults squander precious evening hours in front of the TV. Fictional novels are consumed at a incredible rate and frivolous games eat up time that could be devoted to more profitable endeavors.
We as Christians are no wise innocent in the matter either. Somehow we have time to do our 45 minute workout each day, but we are unable to make it to the mid-week prayer meeting. We can peruse the comics, but not meditate on a scriptural exhortation.
As Christians we must remember: "to whom much is given, much is demanded." Therefore it is imperative that we be redeeming the time. One of my "highly recommended books" is Lewis Bayly's The Practice of Piety. In that book he teaches you how to spend your "down time" (such as, while you are eating dinner or sitting in your lazy boy after a day at work) in a holy way. He gives thoughts for you to reflect on and ideas that seek to stir you up to prayer.
We must not think though that idleness is the act of doing nothing. You may think that an idle person is a person who sleeps all day. But that is only one form of idleness. An idle person may very well be a very active person. Idleness, according to the Bible, means that you aren't doing anything of real purpose and profit: Shooting the breeze, cruising the town, taking a prolonged shower, or indulging your fancy in a video game may equal qualify. These things are not bad in and of themselves, but doing them at the expense of something more profitable or necessary (like prayer, assisting the needy, or cleaning your room) is cause for concern.
I find the Proverbs 31 woman to be the perfect model of the anti-idle. Here is a woman who is apt in her work--be it in the home, at the market, or out in the world at large--and she still has time to devote to personal piety and assisting the less fortunate. Wow.
Paul says in the verse above that the idle are to be admonished. That's such a strong message, for most of us seem to think that idleness is not a big deal. If we did admonish someone for idleness, they would probably give the same reply that they give to the cop who pulls them over for speeding--"don't you have anything better to do?"
But remember, an admonition does not have to be a sour confrontation. It could be a time where the father and son are talking by the pond while fishing (that certainly is not idleness!). Or it could be the friend who politely asks, "When you are doing X (the seemingly idle task), how do you keep from wasting those moments?"
Nevertheless, a command is a command. The fool may scoff, but the wise will hear and heed. The family that is slack in their daily worship together will recognize that their idleness will lead to the paganization of the church. The employee that chats by the coffee station will recognize that he is dishonoring God and wasting his employer's money. The child who awaits the bus will see that those stagnate mornings and monotonous rides can become a rich time of prayer. Thus, the idle will become profitable for both man and God.
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