An idle mind is a waste of time
"His unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions."
- Colossians 2:18 (NIV)
My mother used to say, "Idle hands are the devil's playground." Although this is not a proverb from the Bible, it holds meaningful wisdom.
An idle hand starts with an idle mind. What we think about plays itself out in our daily lives through our actions.
What does idleness this mean? It's speaking of boredom and lack of productive activity or improper use of our time. When we allow boredom to set in, we can turn the use of our time to evil without realizing it.
When we have nothing to do we may tend to turn to unhealthy practices such as gossiping or complaining. We can develop addictions such as substance abuse or overeating. We can become lazy and unproductive in an unhealthy way.
We get out of balance spending too much time on television, games or the Internet. Now, that doesn't mean we never enjoy these things, it just means when we get bored we tend to overindulge in them.
God intends us to discover healthy things to do with our time. Some people who have idle time volunteer for an organization or church group. Others discover creative ways to fulfill their purpose. Some entertain, go to the gym, play a sport or a musical instrument, or learn something new. Others bake or cook and share their goods with friends and neighbors.
God does want us to get some rest and relaxation in our lives, as well as healthy, productive daydreaming, which can set our inventive mindsets flowing with ideas. But when we overdo any of this, it also can lead to idle time.
The world offers us daily doses of images that cloud our judgment and harness our idle minds away from the higher things. If we learn to live our lives with purpose and desire to do good things, we can pray each day and ask God when, where and how to use our time to hinder an idle mind.
• Annettee Budzban is an author, speaker, life coach and nurse. You can contact her at Annetteebudzban@aol.com or (847) 543-8413. Annettee will be speaking March 10 at 1 p.m. at the United Methodist Church, 600 College St., Winthrop Harbor.