"Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of thy son, Jesus Christ."
-George Washington
It's amazing how the perspective of a blog post changes when it's started out with acknowledgment of the faithfulness of God. I started typing this earlier and it was whiny and annoying and sounded just like everything else I've ever written. When I realized that, it hit me that if something I'm writing sounds just like everything else I've written, there's something wrong. Old adamic nature's creeping back into places I've grown in: I'm getting lazy.
I was in the car with my Grandaddy one Sunday, and I was asking him about his week and how things were going. He expressed concern to me that things weren't busy enough. He wasn't able to actively work on different real estate (not only is he my Church's pastor, but he's a full-time real estate agent) deals and keep his mind working. Granted, he saw God's grace in the situation and was able to change the spare time into much needed study time for a sermon; but the reason for his saying these things were not to complain; but that it seriously concerned him to not be busy, all day, six days a week.
Well...my first reaction was surprise...and then I thought about it. For me, I'm ready for the week to be over by Wednesday so I can sleep (granted I never get to bed when I should), and come Friday I definitely don't feel like working. And even Saturday, a day that's supposedly a work-day is wasted doing a whole lot of nothing (okay not really, but you get my point).
So the more I thought about it, the more it convicted me how lazy I really am. Physically and mentally. Once you stop working or actively thinking, you get bored. Once you get bored, you start thinking about how bored you are. And from there it's downhill because you just can't quit thinking about yourself because you have nothing else to do.
So not only does it make you unhappy, you suffer in every other way as well; your mind isn't on doing things well to the glory of the Father (chief end of man...it's kinda important ;-) ). How can people grow under those circumstances, for that is the basis in which we can (by grace) grow?
I think that's why Grandaddy was fearful of not being busy; idle hands, idle mind, idle heart.
Exodus 20:8
8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Proverbs 10:1-4
1 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son makes a glad father,
But a foolish son is the grief of his mother.
2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,
But righteousness delivers from death.
3 The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish,
But He casts away the desire of the wicked.
4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Proverbs 19:15
11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger,
And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
12 The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion,
But his favor is like dew on the grass.
13 A foolish son is the ruin of his father,
And the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping.
14 Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers,
But a prudent wife is from the LORD.
15 Laziness casts one into a deep sleep,
And an idle person will suffer hunger.
16 He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul,
But he who is careless[a] of his ways will die.
Anyway, I could say more on this, but, I'm going to leave it at that. Comments or thoughts would be cool. :)
-George Washington
It's amazing how the perspective of a blog post changes when it's started out with acknowledgment of the faithfulness of God. I started typing this earlier and it was whiny and annoying and sounded just like everything else I've ever written. When I realized that, it hit me that if something I'm writing sounds just like everything else I've written, there's something wrong. Old adamic nature's creeping back into places I've grown in: I'm getting lazy.
I was in the car with my Grandaddy one Sunday, and I was asking him about his week and how things were going. He expressed concern to me that things weren't busy enough. He wasn't able to actively work on different real estate (not only is he my Church's pastor, but he's a full-time real estate agent) deals and keep his mind working. Granted, he saw God's grace in the situation and was able to change the spare time into much needed study time for a sermon; but the reason for his saying these things were not to complain; but that it seriously concerned him to not be busy, all day, six days a week.
Well...my first reaction was surprise...and then I thought about it. For me, I'm ready for the week to be over by Wednesday so I can sleep (granted I never get to bed when I should), and come Friday I definitely don't feel like working. And even Saturday, a day that's supposedly a work-day is wasted doing a whole lot of nothing (okay not really, but you get my point).
So the more I thought about it, the more it convicted me how lazy I really am. Physically and mentally. Once you stop working or actively thinking, you get bored. Once you get bored, you start thinking about how bored you are. And from there it's downhill because you just can't quit thinking about yourself because you have nothing else to do.
So not only does it make you unhappy, you suffer in every other way as well; your mind isn't on doing things well to the glory of the Father (chief end of man...it's kinda important ;-) ). How can people grow under those circumstances, for that is the basis in which we can (by grace) grow?
I think that's why Grandaddy was fearful of not being busy; idle hands, idle mind, idle heart.
Exodus 20:8
8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Proverbs 10:1-4
1 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son makes a glad father,
But a foolish son is the grief of his mother.
2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,
But righteousness delivers from death.
3 The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish,
But He casts away the desire of the wicked.
4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Proverbs 19:15
11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger,
And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
12 The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion,
But his favor is like dew on the grass.
13 A foolish son is the ruin of his father,
And the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping.
14 Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers,
But a prudent wife is from the LORD.
15 Laziness casts one into a deep sleep,
And an idle person will suffer hunger.
16 He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul,
But he who is careless[a] of his ways will die.
Anyway, I could say more on this, but, I'm going to leave it at that. Comments or thoughts would be cool. :)
1 comment:
Oh, this makes me nervous reading about idleness, as I have just made the decision to stop doing cakes for profit...so now I will have all this time on my hands for ??? Actually, the first thing I can start doing is going back to church, as I have missed a lot of church because of the cake biz. I know...I could tell people I don't do cakes on Sunday, but when I book myself to the max on Friday and Saturday and I know a cake isn't needed until a shower for Sunday afternoon, it is so easy to let that cake get decorated on a Sunday morning out of exhaustion and trying to pace myself. :-) Mondays have been my "day of rest" lately!
David is doing cross-country this year and that's another reason I want to free my schedule, so I can actually go see him in some races.
Anyway, I'm excited to be making room in my schedule for new things. I don't *think* idleness is going to be a problem. I've felt a nudge for awhile to do this and I'm hoping it's a nudging from God to make room for other important stuff in my life. :-)
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