Written by
Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha
Wandering – In 1st
Timothy Chapter 5 verses 1 to 15, the widows are described as gossips and
busybodies, tell tales interfering in people’s lives, sowing discord among
brethren, creating problems among people, constituting themselves into authors
of strife and contention, accusing people. Please read 1st
Thessalonians Chapter 4 verses 11 to 12 and 2nd Thessalonians
Chapter 3 verses 6 to 12. Though the devil and his cohorts accuse the children
of God daily, there are ways to overcome them daily – the blood of Jesus
Christ, the word of God and your testimony of victory in Christ Who gives you
the victory at all times as well as putting God first. Please read Revelation
Chapter 12 verses 9 to 11 and Job Chapter 1 verses 6 to 7.
Covetousness –
in the book of 1st Kings Chapter 21, the Bible records that King
Ahab for want of nothing to do coveted the property of one of his subjects,
Naboth. Additionally, Ahab took a step further to acquire the property by
approaching the subject to sell the property to him. When the subject refused
to sell, he was upset and sulked all day. How idle can a person be! A King did
not think of improving the quality of lives of the people he ruled over; he did
not care about development projects that would benefit the people; he did not
reflect on issues of equity and justice in the land and did not bother to learn
from the successes of Kings like David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah as
well as others who impacted the lives of the people positively. Rather, King
Ahab immersed himself in coveting after other people’s properties; and
pathetically, the property of his subject.
Idleness was
also the reason King David saw Bathsheba. While other kings and warriors were
busy at the battle lines, David idled time away on the roof top not thinking
about the weightier issues of state but focused his attention and desires on a
naked woman bathing. Rather than tame whatever desires were stirred in him
particularly so when he discovered that the beautiful woman he could not wait
to devour was the wife of one of his subjects who was busy at the battle lines;
he proceeded to the sin of adultery and as if that was not bad enough, he
attempted to cover his sin the moment he discovered that the woman was
pregnant. But when his attempts at cover up failed, David, the man greatly
beloved by God and many people resorted to murder. How unfortunate that a
person like David who always invested time fell into the trap of the enemy
simply because he chose a moment of idleness. Unfortunately, the consequences
of David’s action were dire – he lost the child from the sinful liaison and but
for the mercy of God, he would have lost the throne. Please read 1st
Samuel Chapters 11 to 19.
The very
beautiful wife of Potiphar also became covetous for want of nothing to do. She
had far too much time on her hands -
time she could have invested in a lucrative business like the virtuous woman of
Proverbs Chapter 31; Lydia the seller of purple in Acts Chapter 16 verses 14 to
15; the widow of the indebted prophet in 2nd Kings Chapter 4 verses
1 to 7; time she could have invested serving the Lord like Mary the mother of
John Mark who turned her house into a prayer cell and the Apostle Peter was
prayed for day and night to escape an unjust death sentence by Herod; like Anna
the prophetess who spent her days fasting and praying in the temple; Dorcas who
made clothes for the poor widows in her community and enriched the lives of
poor widows and made them happy. Rather, the wife of Potiphar frittered time in
lusting after a young man, a young man she was older than and a servant of hers
actually. What idleness wrought in the heart of a foolish woman! She did not
invest time remodeling her home, renewing or upgrading her wardrobe or poise
for social engagements with her husband or other women of the court, she lusted
and would have lured a young man to sin against God and early death if Joseph
did not know who he was and refused to sin. Rather than own up to the greed in
her heart and unbridled emotions of lust so she could be free, she lied against
Joseph and Joseph was imprisoned. I can only imagine what happened to her when
Joseph became Prime Minister in Egypt.
The Bible
records that the people of Sodom had food in great abundance, and rather than
reach out to the poor and needy, they became proud and celebrated idleness
which the Bible records against them as ‘abundance of idleness. Please read
Ezekiel Chapter 165 verses 49 to 50. The abundance of idleness was perhaps one
of the reasons that gave rise to the gross immorality and sexual perversion; in
point of fact, the nadir of sexual perversion in Sodom. Please read Genesis
Chapters 18 verses 20 to 22 and 19 verses 1 to 13.
Beloved,
idleness for whatever reason does not birth good things. It should therefore be
avoided at all costs. Even if you cannot secure a white collar job, you can
certainly create a job for yourself by acquiring some skills or deploying
acquired skills into economic activities. Even your mental prowess, your
extensive knowledge base, understanding and analysis of issues can become
economic activities to you apart from the fact that you will be benefiting humanity with your gifts.
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