Learning Idleness

And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.  1 Timothy 5:13

As Paul shows us in his letter to Timothy, idleness is a learned occupation. We do not come naturally to idleness, it seems. Certainly an idle child will attract some concerned attention from parents and elders as children often possess the energy us elders can only recall fondly. Even a child who stops to study something new will be encouraged to tear about like wild animals by the other children. Idleness takes practice; often it is begun in the teenage years when our childhood energy first wanes and rebellion against parental demands becomes our first opportunity in life to reject authority by becoming willfully immobile. 

And the parental poet said, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may." (Robert Herrick, 1591-1674) As the elder age comes upon us, the idleness we yearned for in youth may be granted to us by way of an armed regiment of injuries and illnesses, any of which may strike us down physically. Of course, it is in these years that we may learn the joy of deep study in God's word. There is no idleness in that study, but a mind and spirit activity that refreshes and renews while drawing us closer to the Lord our God. Though it may appear to some that we have fallen asleep while doing so. 

Have a great day resting in the arms of the Lord! 

Bucky