"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in [Yahweh]. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated" (D.A.Carson).
When I saw this posted in our online group it jogged me into writing about a subject that Yahweh laid on my lev (heart) some weeks ago which I had completely forgotten to do. I speak of the problem of Internet Gaming.
You, like me, if you use Facebook, probably get deluged by annoying requests to join this game or that. It is truly amazing how many believers get sucked up into this time-wasting activity and call it 'relaxation'. Now a game here or there, now and then, mightn't be a bad thing, especially if you live alone, but all too easily it can become a compulsive obsession gobbling up hours of valuable, never-to-be-recovered time in which we could be relaxing and being profitable stewards of our time in other ways.
Confession: I used to waste hours playing computer games. When I think of the backlog of things Yahweh has called me to do and write about for the minitsry, some of which I may now never do, I can get quite upset. I don't think we realise just how precious time is. There are no future reincarnations in which we can make up for the time we threw away once we are dead.
Though I am not one of those people who slavishly follows a rigid timetable [1], I do believe that goal-setting is good and necessary for both productivity and inner shalom (peace) about the work Yahweh has called us to do. The 'weekend' - a man-made invention if ever there was one - has now been translated into our daily living patterns [2]. I can truthfully say that the most relaxing times there are are those spent in fellowship with Yah'shua (Jesus). And I think another problem we have is that we have a negative view of 'work' - work is supposed to be relaxing! And there is, additionally, nothing quite as satisfying and relaxing afterwards knowing you have done a job well.
For those of you adults in particular who waste hours and hours of irrecoverable time, playing meaningness, mind- and soul-numbing games, I would challenge you to reconsider your priorities by raising this issue with Yahweh. Honestly examine the excuses you make. Consider that not doing what Yahweh wants you to be doing [3] is just as much a sin as doing something overtly wrong, since your time is His time as He claims ownership of you since the day you named yourself as His talmid (disciple). This isn't necessarily or likely something you can fix in your own strength, mind you, particularly if you are now an addict, but one that is going to require some measure of spiritual deliverance as from any kind of drug.
Begin by admitting (confessing) that you have a problem and that you need a vision of what it is you should be doing (if you don't already know) and the His grace and empowerment to do that. Take the first step by saying no and beginning something more worthwhile. I guarantee that no matter who you are, or what your circumstances may be, there is something Yahweh wants you to immediately do, even if it's just to spend more time with Him in prayer or Scripture study or with a loved one needing your attention.
In Yah'shua (Jesus) you can - and are expected by Him - to do it!
"But you be watchful in all things" (2 Tim.4:5, NKJV).
Endnotes
[1] I had a friend who micromanaged every hour, was very efficient, but who became so obsessive that he eventually committed suidide.
[2] Yahweh designed us to work a six-day week. The chief reason the weekend was invented, in my view, was so that exploited peasants and (later) factory workers could recouprate from their gruelling work load and/or pace of life before re-engaging in the slave labour of the feudal, and now corporate, state.
[3] The sin of omission as opposed to the sin of comission.
