idleness | considering the word

Lord, truly, I would have perished in my affliction if it hadn’t been for You. Your Word is what has given me life. I praise You for this, Lord! You have saved me. You have saved me in this life, and You have given me eternal salvation, as well. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Lord, help me to walk in integrity. Keep foolishness and perversity far from me. Let Your Word be what guides my steps. Continue to grow in me the discretion that makes me slow to anger, overlooking transgressions and weaknesses. Help me to see those around me through the lenses of love and understanding.

Keep contentions and arguments far from me, so that I may be a prudent wife. Help me not to allow laziness and idleness be my companions. Let me give to those in need, chasten my children while they’re young, be careful of my ways, and continue in Your Word.

Let my ears be open to instruction and counsel, that I may be wise in my latter years.

Although the enemy waits to destroy, I trust You to keep evil far from me. I know that You will not allow evil to overtake me. I am Yours. You love me like no other and You are the God who is in control. Satan may have a loud roar, but Yours, O Lord, is louder! You are the Alpha and Omega. You are the King of Kings! You are the Lord of Lords! You are the Great I AM. You are Lord of all. And I praise You!

Thank You for choosing me, Lord. I am happy to be called Yours. Thank You for hearing my prayer. You are a good, good God!

I love you,

jamie

Pr. 31:27: “She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.”

As a woman whose job is to care for her home, her children, and her husband, this verse runs through my mind quite often. Although we all need breaks where we rest, we are urged not to be continually idle. There is a big difference between a 1 hour break and a 1 month veg-out where little to no work is done at all.

No worries men, hang with me. I have a different take on this verse today. I want to talk about not watching over the ways of the household of God.

After Stephen was stoned, Christ’s followers were greatly persecuted. Stephen had just been stoned for preaching the gospel. Saul was making ‘havoc’ of the church, dragging off men and women to prison. Now, the rest were being scattered throughout the regions of Jerusalem and Samaria. I would imagine this would not only have been a sad time, with the death of a friend, but also pretty scary and uncertain.

It would be natural for those scattered to go into hiding. Grief has many stages and effects, and it wouldn’t have been out of the question for some to simply tend to their own well-being at the time. However, we don’t see that taking place. Acts 8:4 says that those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. It tells specifically of Philip going to Samaria and preaching Christ to them. There were miracles, deliverance from unclean spirits, healings, and baptisms. Vs. 8 says, “And there was great joy in that city.”

Wow! What I notice is that instead of giving in to their feelings and emotions, those who were scattered were determined to take care of the household of God and not use this time to eat the bread of idleness. When there is work to be done, someone has to do it. It seems these followers took their work seriously.

We all need breaks from time to time. We were created to rest and the Lord even modeled that for us. It is good to spend Sabbath time where we rest, renew our strength, spend some deliberate quiet time with God in prayer and in the Word, and re-create ourselves in His strength. However, we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into idleness. We must care for our Father’s house and our Father’s children. There is work to be done.

We can take notes from those early followers and remember that there is great joy to be spread. Our family is counting on us!

Inspired,

jamie