Idleness Destroys The Home

By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. (Eccl 10:17 KJV)

I was raised to appreciate the opportunity to work and accomplish something. I learned to actually enjoy working as most Saturdays and many evenings were filled with the whole family taking care of household chores. We were doing things together. When chores were being done no one was alone in doing it. No one was sitting on the couch or taking a nap while others took care of things that needed to be done to keep the home and any other property in good condition. We kept the house going as a family.

Both of my parents worked hard to provide for all of us and to teach us to do the same. My mother, especially, had her ideas of how to take care of a home. We never went to bed with dirty dishes in the sink. Bedding was washed every week if not every other week and; yes, after we took them off of the clothes line outside we even ironed sheets and pillow cases. Our home was always clean. The lawn was always mowed in the summer and sidewalk shoveled in the winter. I learned to plant a garden, to fish, to gather wild fruits, mushrooms, and greens and then to preserve what could be canned. I was taught that it takes much work to have things. I was also taught it would take manual labor to maintain those things. All of this takes time and effort. 

I have learned over the years that amassing too much stuff may take more time and effort than one actually wants to spend on maintaining the stuff. Sometimes, purchasing things we don't need to live on kills the opportunity to actually live life. 

In the end we must count the cost of actually having stuff that we don't need and won't want after we have it for a short while. Is it worth working endless hours to pay off an expensive cell phone when an Android will do the job?  And, if we commit to purchasing and making payments on frivolous stuff will we be able to afford to fix the vehicle that gets us to work to buy the things we actually need to survive?

There is much work to be done just to survive. Slothfulness will not get you very far. In the end everything that you have that you so desired will be lost when you cannot afford to take care of it or after you decided that naps are more preferred than taking care of the property that you have been blessed with. 

The destruction of a home from laziness does include more than the physical property. Consider how not caring for and tending to relationships will also destroy the home. Relationships not tended to will rot away. They will fall when they are not taken care of. 

May we all be filled with a desire to be good stewards of all that we have so that we might produce fruits to the glory of God. 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Nothing New?

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

                                                                                    (Eccl 1:1-9 KJV)

I have seen a few posts on Facebook this morning that ask us what we learned during the year 2020. To be honest: I cannot think of one thing that I learned that was new. Some of the things that I already knew were reinforced this last year. But, there really is nothing new under the sun. It's been pretty much the same stuff since the beginning of time. 

As I look back over the year 2020, unlike a lot of people, I do not see a horrible year. I have had many that could be considered much worse and most of you probably did too if you look back further than 2020. The corrupt politicians have always been there. Being lied to by the government, the media, as well as others seems to have gotten a bit worse; but, then again maybe it's just because our eyes have seen enough of it and finally recognize it for what it is and always has been. Greed, selfishness, anger, hate, disrespect, slothfulness, lack of integrity, lack of empathy: they have also always been here. Disease has always been here, as well, and the earth keeps spinning.

But, in 2020, there was also the other side of the coin. There was love. There was generosity. There was self-sacrifice by many. These are good things. 2020 wasn't really so bad and if we expect 2021 to be much different than we are probably in for a shock. There is nothing new under the sun. There are good things and things that are not so good under the sun. 

As we sit around complaining about our lot in life, remember that we were never promised that life would be without tribulations. We were never promised a rose garden. We were promised the Kingdom of God. Trials and tribulations exist here on earth. They always have. They always will until the Lord comes to take us home. In him alone lies our hope. In Christ alone is our peace. Through him we are heirs of salvation. We can and should be rejoicing in that!

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

                                                                                    (Romans 8:16-18)

The sufferings of this time are really not enough for us to dwell in darkness, in the closed closets of our mind. For "....ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." (1 Pet 2:9)

Have a blessed new year and rejoice for every day that the Lord has provided you with! Rejoice and live life in the light of Christ!

God's Peace - Pr. J.