Idle Hands

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Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world.
(1 John 2:15-16 NKJV)

How are you spending your time while under the ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’ executive order? According to a recent article published by Forbes, many are not spending it in a God-honoring way. The article title says it all “Americans Are Excessively Eating, Drinking, Smoking Pot, Playing Video Games And Watching Porn While Quarantined”  (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/04/06/americans-are-excessively-eating-drinking-smoking-pot-playing-video-games-and-watching-porn-while-quarantined/#d819ea3404ec)  The fact that many of the businesses that support these vices are considered ‘essential’ is a strong testimony to just how fallen this world we live in has become.

Throughout scripture, the Bible teaches that we are not to be idle in Prayer, Bible Study, Worship, and Christian Fellowship. It also gives us vivid accounts of how quickly things can take a turn for the worse when we stray. A well-known example of this can be found in 2 Samuel 11 where we find an idle David allowing his wandering eye to fall upon a bathing Bathsheba. Things didn’t turn out well for David as the end of verse 27 foretells “But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.”

So how do you fill days and weeks of idle time? The first step is to stop and consider what you’re feeding your mind and soul. Make sure you’re watching the weekly recordings of FBC’s Sunday School and Sunday Service on our website or on YouTube. Follow along with the Sunday school lesson and then continue on thru the week with the daily lessons in the study guide. This is an excellent way to have meaningful discussions with your family. If you live alone, make plans to discuss the lessons with a church friend. If you need a guide, call the church office, and make arrangements to get one.  Keeping on top of the daily ‘Be Encouraged’ articles and watching the Wednesday ‘Midweek Boost’ will also give you excellent material to discuss.

If binge watching shows or listening to podcasts is more your speed, again, consider how you’re spending your time. Instead of being swept up in whatever distasteful train wreak is currently streaming on Netflix, surf over to https://studios.vidangel.com/the-chosen/welcome and watch “The Chosen”.  In a recently posted video by Shelley Sysum, she discussed how each day after dinner, her family gathers together to listen to and discuss David Jeremiah’s daily podcast. Whatever you choose to do, do it as a family and always include discussion.

Maybe you’ve always wanted to have a better understanding of something you’ve heard mentioned in a sermon or Sunday school lesson. Perhaps, when talking about Genesis, you’ve heard mention of ‘New Earth’ versus ‘Old Earth’ theory and would like a better understanding of the subject. Possibly Pastor John’s Daniel sermon series has you interested in Daniel’s 70th week and the end-times prophecy contained in it. Systematic Theology and Biblical Doctrine has been mentioned a few times in the last couple of weeks and maybe you’re wondering about that. Christology, Pneumatology, Anthropology and Hamartiology, Soteriology, Angelology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology. The list of topics is almost endless. (No, I’m not going to tell you what all those ology’s are, it’ll give you somewhere to start your studies.)  Now’s the time to dig into the topic.

A few online resources to get you started are listed below.
https://www.gotquestions.org/
https://bible.org/
https://biblehub.com/

Be Encouraged, knowing that God has not only warned us to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NKJV)  but has provided us with the means to defend ourselves from the dangers of idle time.

Kurt Kowalk

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Elder Kurt Kowalk