This is one of the most popular articles that we have done so I thought I might repost it with a little update. It hit a nerve I believe because we live in a very busy and distracted world. We are often torn between fulfilling what we see is our own needs and desires and responding to the desperate needs of an often dark world around us. Then as we try to balance these two, we hear say that the Jesus following life is the life of an “easy yoke,” and we wonder should we just give all this modern life up, and go live on the beach, or reinstitute the monastery.  

There was a recent humor article put out recently playing a bit on the cliché, “Let go and let God” where a fictitious rock climber got into a hard spot and decided to  “Let go and let God” and is now recovering from his fall down the cliff. This may represent a danger in living a life with the exclusive goal of not being too busy or distracted for God in the wrong way. We could use our devotion to God as an excuse for laziness.  How can we tell the difference?  Are we lazy, busy, or working with purposefulness? Here may be some definitions that could prove helpful.

Laziness can be considered as not doing what we know we should be doing. The Bible in Proverbs 20:4 says, “The “atsel” (Hebrew for lazy) does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.” The apostle Paul says bluntly in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 that if one man does not work he should not eat. If you are intentionally by design or negligent default not providing for yourself and your family it is time to repent and change. It may not be the “easy yoke” that you are plowing with but the self centered one.    

Sometimes, we are lazy simply because we can get away with it.  Other times, we do it out of fear of failure and discouragement. Whatever the case, God does not want us to be here. We shouldn’t use God as an excuse for not doing. Waiting for God (the Holy Spirit, Jesus, the sunshine etc…)  to move  is not an excuse for not doing the basic things that we, and everyone else, knows we should be doing. Ultimately, even if our efforts to fix a problem, find needed resources, or work for our family fail because of circumstances beyond our personal control, we keep trying “to do the right thing”  without guilt simply because God instructed us to as a matter of faithfulness.

Busyness on the other hand is doing what everyone else wants us to do, or better yet what we think everyone else wants us to do. Busyness is the task the world assigns us that God doesn’t want us to be doing. These are the tasks that we do out selfishness. Philippians 2:3 says, “ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.” Busyness could even be going on a mission to Africa as we are on our self-assigned goal to save the world and show everyone what a good Christian we are.   Busyness never stops. This is because it is driven out of fear. Busyness knows that if it halts for a second someone will catch up and overtake it.

Purposefulness does the will of God. It is driven by studying the Word of God and prayer. It may or may not include a very full schedule. And it may be extremely tiring at times and for a long time. But except for periods of emergency, it will always include time for God both in study and prayer plus one more important item. The Biblical mandated blessing of Sabbath. 

That means rest. In the Bible, we find a very important “work ethic” and a very important “rest ethic.” And we are even given a sort of formula. (Isn’t that what we all want in life — a formula for “success.”) It is a six to one work to rest ratio. Intentional work for God six days a week followed by purposeful rest one day a week.

Rest can be a wide variety of good things that should include corporate fellowship with other believers if physically possible.  In a world where timing can be everything, purposeful work using the skills God gives us and trusting God for the results, gives us freedom. In purposefulness, the ultimate success is a closer association with our wonderful God and loving our neighbor as our self in the millions of forms that can take.   Laziness and busyness are not opposites. They are tied together by selfishness. Purposefulness is their opposite, and it is intertwined with God.

Doug

The words of British poet Robert Abrahams say it well, “For some men die by shrapnel, And some go down in flames, But most men perish inch by inch, In play at little games.”  Our goal is to identify the little games and put a stop to them and put the right weight on the right things.