Idleness

Another school year has come to a close. Summer is here, the kids are on vacation and Mom is already pulling her hair out wondering what to do with them. What will your kids be doing this summer? Sleeping late? Watching TV/Movies? Playing video games? Texting? Facebooking? Instagram? 

We’ve become a nation of idle doers, with our heads stuck in our phones, watching TV and playing video games. We have lost the art of communicating without a device in our hands. I’m as guilty as anyone of idleness and of allowing my grandkids to play on the computer and watch one movie after another the whole time they are at my house. Lately, I’ve been contemplating just how we have allowed this to slowly creep into our lives until it totally consumes our time and that of our children/grandchildren, and I’m asking myself, what are we feeding our kid’s minds when we allow them to spend so many hours in front of a TV or computer screen playing games, texting on their phone, or watching videos? What does it benefit them? What does it teach them? Are we using it as a cheap babysitter?

The Bible takes a very dim view of a lazy or idle person.           

“Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger” - Proverbs 19:15

“The path of lazy people is like a thorny hedge, but the road of decent people is an open highway” - Proverbs 15:19

“A lazy person puts his fork in his food. He doesn’t even bring it back to his mouth.” - Proverbs 19:24

“A lazy person does not plow in the fall, He looks for something in the harvest but finds nothing.” - Proverbs 20:4

“As a door turns on its hinges, so the lazy person turns on his bed.” - Proverbs 26:14

 “His master responded, ‘you evil and lazy servant! If you knew that I harvest where I haven’t planted and gather where I haven’t scattered,’” - Matthew 25:26

“And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not” - I Timothy 5:13

“I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; and there it was, all overgrown with thorns; its surface was covered with nettles; its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction” - Proverbs 24:30-32

The “field” in these verses could easily be our minds. A mind is like a field - what we plant in it - that is what we shall reap. If we plant our minds with mindless nothing, we will reap mindless nothing.

“But whatever goes out of the mouth comes from within, and that’s what makes a person unclean. Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, other sexual sins, stealing, lying, and cursing come from within.” - Matthew 15:18-19

“Good people do the good that is in them. But evil people do the evil that is in them. The things people say come from inside them.” - Luke 6:45

“Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you’ll harvest.” - Galatians 6:7

The summer is a great time for us to teach our children how to do many things that will be beneficial to them. You can teach your daughters to sew, cook, clean house, learn a craft or plant and tend a garden. Your sons can learn to build things, take care of the yard, and help their dad. What a great time to have Bible Studies or activities centered on Biblical truths.

Children need our guidance in all aspects of their lives, even in time management. Idleness in children leads to boredom—boredom leads to trouble and trouble leads to sin. Juvenile Delinquency in this country can be traced back to kids having too much time on their hands, unsupervised by an adult, and left to their own devices. In Jeremiah 18:12, we are told what happens when we are left to our own devices,

“...but we will walk after our own devices, and we will, every one do the imagination of his evil heart.”           

As a parent take charge of their time. Budget their time on electronic devices, including the TV and yes, even their phones. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have some down time, but encourage them to do other things. Even going outside to play is more beneficial to their health and physical well-being. Invite others over to your house. Have a backyard swim party. You don’t even need a pool to do this, just give the kids water hoses or water guns and let them have at it. Visit nearby museums, libraries, and parks. Look for festivals, ball games and other events going on in your area and go. Think back to your summer vacations. What do you remember most about them? The time you spent in front of the TV or the time you spent doing things with your parents, friends or others?

I’ve made a commitment this summer, not only to be less idle myself and limit my time on electronic devices (so if you're a Facebook friend you may not see much of me this summer, except to post this blog and scriptures), but to encourage my grandchildren when they are at my house, to do other things, to limit their time on electronic devices of any kind and encourage them to do other things and do it with them. 

           

Help your child learn not to be idle. It will not only be constructive for them, but for you also. And who knows, maybe you both will have memories to cherish in the years to come.