Laziness

I've heard it said that the greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could become. Think about it--if you could collect every wasted hour of your life into one huge block of time, what could you do with it? I certainly could do a lot!

Wasting time on the computer is a temptation that I constantly face as I do my homework. There is always a blog to check or an e-mail that I could send or some pictures to browse on Facebook (and the pictures generally are the cousin of a friend's friend aunt's daughter...or something like that). One day a few weeks ago I recorded every minute I spent on the computer that was not for some definite purpose. And the ten minutes here and the ten minutes there ended up to be about an hour! So multiply that by 365 days in a year and each year I'm wasting 365 hours. And add that to my entire life...and, oh my!

But I'm not the first one to discover this secret time chest. The Bible has a lot to say about laziness too. Proverbs is packed full of admonitions to work hard and avoid laziness (see Proverbs 6:6-8, 12:11, 12:24, 15:19, and 21:5, for just a few). As my cousin pointed out to me, Ezekial 16:49-50 (NKJV) mentions an "abundance of idleness" as one of the sins of Sodom. And II Thessalonians 3:10-12 urges us not to be busy-bodies. But a verse I have been continually returning to recently is Ephesians 5:15-16: "Be very careful then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity..." Is looking at some random person's pictures on Facebook wise and being careful about making the most of every opporunity? I would say not.

And spending time on the computer is certainly not the only temptation when it comes to laziness. Martha Peace writes, "Lazy people are often busy, but they are not busy doing the work God has given them to do. They are incredibly self-indulgent." Now that's convicting.

So what are some practical ways we can avoid laziness as we sit at our desks?

*Try it yourself. Record how much time you waste in one day in an area you are most tempted to be lazy. Then do the numbers and find out how much time you're wasting in a year. If you're anything like me, this will motivate you to change something!

*Memorize. Take the time to memorize one of the passages of scripture that deals with laziness so that you can bring it to mind when facing a temptation.

*Pray. Pray for God's power as you fight laziness!

*Remember the Gospel. Don't fight laziness to gain His love, but fight it as a way to express your love and obedience to Him, whose love for us is greater than we could ever possibly imagine (Ephesians 3:19).

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In awe of Him,
Jessina