I was driving home this morning and noticed how the weeds had taken over farmland nearby that used to grow corn. Once the corn was harvested a cover crop was sown to keep the ground fertile. Unfortunately, the owners sold the farm and no longer are growing any corn. Some of the farmland has been set aside for a few horses. Some is being divided into plots for a sub-division, and this one particular lot I have mentioned is sitting idle, at least for now. Instead of the beautiful land we used to see when we drove by, it is now covered in weeds as tall as I am.
This got me to thinking about our spiritual lives as Christians. I’ll come back to that, but first of all let’s consider some other examples.
My Mother-in-law’s car sits idle most of the time in her carport. I mentioned to her the other day that it really should be driven at least once a week to keep all the moving parts working as they should.
Have you ever noticed that when we don’t exercise, regardless of our age, our body gets weaker and pudgy? Since our body wears down with age anyway, it gets even more critical to exercise it to slow down the “blessings” of the aging process. My guess is that most of us do not feel, in our minds, our actual age. In my mind, I feel much younger than my age, but my body has a way of reminding me that I’m not a young buck anymore. Can I get an “Amen” here?
Children aren’t as physically active as we were when we were youngsters, but I’ve told my wife, on one of those few occasions you spot one outside playing, “We used to be active like that. What happened?” I used to run and jump over fences just for the pure joy of it. Now, I don’t want to walk too far from the house, since I’m concerned about getting back.
Sin brought corruption into this world. When God created the world, everything was perfect. How do I know, since I wasn’t here at the time? He said so. (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 3) Can you really think of anything, since sin entered the world that does not wear down? It is also true that many things in our world deteriorate even more rapidly if left idle.
Our bodies need to be maintained (food, drink, exercise) to keep working properly, but even then aging takes its toll. Our spirit is much different. Unlike the body, it is eternal. It is not aging, but it still needs to be maintained (food, drink, exercise).
Far more often than not, most Christians are not maintaining their spirit. With most Christians it (their spirit) sits idle, and idleness reaps nothing but corruption. In using the word “corruption” for this article, I am not saying they are “sleazy” people, as this word would normally be defined.
I am saying that they are becoming weak, as in a body that is not maintained. Living in this sin-bloated world, we must be strong against Satan’s assaults. When bad things happen, and they will, we must have the spiritual muscle to withstand. However, if we don’t feed our spirit with the Word of God (Bible) and spend time in prayer (fellowship with God), we’re going to have a much more difficult time living in this world than a Christian who is growing spiritually in the Lord.
I am saying that they are becoming weed-infested, as a piece of ground that is not maintained. If we allow our spiritual lives to sit idle as the farmland I mentioned in the opening paragraph, we won’t know what to believe. We will be so confused; we’ll never be at peace with Truth. Our faith will be weak. We will be so full of “weedy” questions; we’ll never be truly content, relaxing in God’s rest. We are in God’s rest if we are a Christian, but are we relaxing in it, enjoying God’s grace?
“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” (Hebrews 4:1)
Many Christians are really confused about the security of their salvation. One day they think they’re saved. The next day they aren’t so sure. It’s because they have been idle and their souls have become corrupted with the weeds of false gospel. Their ground needs to be cleared and plowed so the cover crop can be sown.
Our God wants a close relationship with us by our mutual fellowship with Him. He wants us to be strong in faith and fertile in our life, but if our spiritual life sits idle, we are not going to grow spiritually. We will always be fighting against the current. Consider the following Scriptures.
“Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.” (Proverbs 19:15)
Slothfulness in this verse actually means “lazy.” If we are idle, we are lazy and starving our spiritual self.
“By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.” (Ecclesiastes 10:18)
As with anything, idleness brings nothing but corruption. The house just falls down around our ears while we stand and watch.
“Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” (Ezekiel 16:49)
Jesus said that in the last days the world would become as it was in the days of Noah and Lot. Notice that this Scripture says that Sodom had an “abundance of idleness.” Maybe that’s one of the major problems with the Church today. We have “an abundance of idleness” and we are reaping corruption.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html