Thought for Today
Psalm 141:4 Do not turn my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with those who work iniquity; do not let me eat of their delicacies.
Ecclesiastes 3:10 I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.
Matthew 20:6 And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here idle all day?'
Romans 13:6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, busy with this very thing.
My mother was very fond of adages. One of her favorites was, “Busy hands are happy hands. Idle hands do the devil’s work.” Mom always delivered those words as though she was quoting from scripture. As I thought about being busy this morning, I recalled hearing those words many times in my youth. Admittedly, I also remember wondering the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of cleaning up my room, making my bed, or hanging up my clothes bore any relationship to making me happy. Maybe the truth in that adage is captured in another adage, one my mother did not use, “Happy mother, happy home.” Imagine my surprise when I did a search on my Bible app and found that none of those are not words of scripture!
This past week, on more than one occasion, Greta and I have both commented about how busy our lives are in retirement. We marvel that pre-retirement we ever found the time to go to work. I suspect many of our generation sometimes wonder how we ever found the time to go to work, to raise children, to go to PTA (or PTO) meetings, etc.
As we age, our lives and the activities that fill and define our lives change. In our youth, we learn the meaning of family; we learn how to function as part of a ‘team.’ We also go to school; we learn the accumulated knowledge of the generations that have gone before. Both at home and at school, we learn and acquire socialization skills, how to get along with others. Although we probably aren’t aware of it at the time, we also learn how to budget time, how to balance chores, school, homework and play.
Paul wrote, “1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” While that was true for Paul and remains true for some, regrettably, putting an end to childish ways is not universal. Look at the world all around us. While I always hesitate to argue with scripture, every time I look toward Washington, D.C., I question whether “the authorities are God's servants.” The cynic in me sometimes wonders whether or not we should require all politicians at every level to also have a ‘real’ job. In their wisdom, in Jesus’ time, a rabbi could not earn his living by being a rabbi, he had to have a profession by which he earned his living. Saul of Tarsus, who became the apostle Paul, was also a tent maker.
So, just how did we find time in our earlier years to go off to work? How did we squeeze our jobs and/or professions into the greater arena of our lives? In my first career as an engineer, I usually began my commute before 6:00am. I arrived home in the afternoons sometime after 5:00pm. During the week, there were baseball or soccer practices in the afternoons. Greta accommodated driving to various music lessons and also scheduling and driving to doctors’ appointments for both our children. Some evenings there were games, school meetings, etc. Weekends were full of yardwork, sports games and (thankfully) church. Yet, our lives were no busier than those of our friends.
As we age, our lives change. Our children went off to college; they graduated, began careers, started families. Greta and I recreated our empty nest into something different from what it had been. We filled our lives with other activities. I heard God’s call to ministry and while still working, began seminary. Rather than becoming less busy, our lives became busier, just with other activities.
Ultimately, we moved across country, and I was called to a pulpit. I don’t ever remember praying that prayer above from the psalmist. God has kept me busy. Qoheleth may or may not have “seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with,” but God has given me plenty with which to be busy. Not unexpectedly, God has also given Greta plenty with which to remain busy. And, repeatedly, we still wonder, “How did we ever find the time to go to work?”
Stay safe, watch for that which God has given you to be busy with, trust God,
Pastor Ray