In today’s devotional, we will be looking at common things that sinfully waste our time. We will look at the first seven here, and the last four in the next devotional.
When we realize that our time and life is not our own, but God’s, and therefore that all of our time needs to be submitted to Him, we naturally ought to concern ourselves with not wasting that time. We are always “on the clock,” so to speak. God does desire that we rest and relax as we have need. However, the spans of our sanctified lives are His, and therefore we will have to one day give an account for how we spend it. In order to be good workmen, we ought therefore to be diligent in doing what pleases our Master, rather than spending the time in vain, unprofitable, or fleshly things. Puritan Richard Baxter has a great list of different things that people often do in sinfully wasting the Lord’s time that He has so graciously given to us. Baxter starts by saying, “be acquainted with the great Thieves that rob men of their time, and with the devil’s methods in enticing them to lose it, and live in continual watchfulness against them” (Body of Divinity, vol. 2, 158). This is a discipline that is lifelong, helping us to be sober-minded, profitable, and ever-ready for our Lord’s return. Here is the first time-thief:
Thief I. One of the greatest time-wasting sins is idleness or sloth. The slothful see their time pass away, and their work undone, and can hear of the necessity of redeeming it, and yet they have not hearts to stir. When they are convinced that duty must be done, they are still delaying, and putting it off from day to day, and saying still, I will do it tomorrow or hereafter. Tomorrow is still the sluggard’s working day; and today is his idle day. He spends his time in fruitless wishes: he lies in bed, or sits idly, and wishes, If only this were labouring: he indulges his flesh, and wishes that this were fasting: he follows his sports and pleasures, and wishes that this were prayer, and a mortified life: he lets his heart run after lust, or pride, or covetousness, and wishes that this were heavenly-mindedness, and laying up a treasure above. Thus the ‘soul of the sluggard desires and has nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat’ [Prov. 13:4].
This is a very common time thief. I often think of my kids while they are young, who seem naturally bent to do their work slothfully. We, as parents, need to help them along and keep them accountable to do their work with diligence, lest they lose out on much other important time in their days. In sloth (or “doddling” for kids), a person is stealing the time from whatever they would otherwise be doing. If others are counting on you, then you will let them down, and even steal their time from them. For adults, I have seen the sin of putting important things off time and time again. Everything can seem like a mountain to such people, and they can often feel weighed down by what they need to do as a result. At its core, idleness and sloth are about people pursuing something that they see as a higher end than God and what He desires. In other words, it points to an idol in their lives; something that they more readily serve than God. Perhaps that idol is rest, or ease, or we make excuses about our anxiety or stress. However, God promises rest to those who serve Him. He also calls us to cast all of our anxieties and cares upon Him. Those who seek first His kingdom and righteousness are also promised to have all that they need supplied for them. So, there can never be any legitimate reason for sinful sloth and idleness.
Thief II. The second thief or time waster is, excess of sleep.
This is an easy one for us to see. It delays our whole day, and often throws our proper schedules off. It is one thing to actually need sleep, and quite another to be taking it when we don’t. Sleep is a tool that is meant to refresh the body for loving service to God.
Thief III. The next thief or timewaster is, inordinate adorning of the body.
The rich used to spend hours each day preparing themselves to look lavish and important. We can do this at times as well. I think that, in our day, women can tend more to this than men. Excessive time can be spent on one’s hair or makeup, or on clothes, or other like things. When not done in moderation, this is frivolous and vain; a wasting of God’s time.
Thief IV. Another time-wasting thief is, unnecessary pomp and curiosity in retinue, attendance, house, furniture, provision and entertainments; together with excess of compliment and ceremony, and servitude to the humours and expectations of time-wasters.
This is quite a list of common time-wasters that all fit time spent with others. “Unnecessary pomp and curiosity in retinue” and attendance often refers to nobility putting on a show and having excessive service from people around them. More often for people today, we can tend to use our furniture, provisions, and entertainments to impress others. We often want to look good, and so we can tend to put the very best things forward to impress. Some people spend inordinate amounts of time on selecting furniture, things for guests to use, and special forms of entertainment, such as special foods, or movies, big TVs and the like. (Facebook and Instagram are also modern examples of this time-thief). Here, a number of different things work together to make visitations and time with others a big waste of time. This is all the worse if our company expects it. Rather, we need to do all things in moderation.
Thief V. Another time-wasting sin, is needless and tedious feastings, gluttony, and tippling. . . . I speak not against moderate, seasonable, and charitable feasts: but alas, in this luxurious, sensual age, how commonly do men sit two hours at a feast, and spend two more in attending it before and after, and not improving the time in any pious or profitable discourse.
It is good to have a charitable feast to one to celebrate something good, but it is quite another to have feasts excessively. In our day, this often happens when we go to restaurants and then spend a couple hours in vain conversations. If we are not careful, even going to a restaurant can become “tedious feasting, gluttony,” or “tippling,” the latter of which is the habitual drinking of alcohol (especially excessively). In such cases, all of that time is wasted in excesses. Rather, when we go out, we ought to have our discourse in holy things (and things honourable to God), eat in moderation, and feast at appropriate times. Our time is not our own, and so we should not spend it in vain revelry or excess.
Thief VII [Thief VI, on idle talk, has been moved for later coverage]. Another thief which by the aforesaid means would steal your time, is vain and sinful company. Among whom a spiritual physician that goes to cure them, or a holy person that is full and resolute to bear down vain discourse I confess may well employ his time, when he is cast upon it, or called to it. But to dwell with such, or choose them as our familiars, or causelessly, or for complacency keep among them, will unavoidably lose abundance of your time. If you would do good, they will hinder you: if you will speak good, they will divert you, or reproach you, or wrangle or cavil you, or some way or other to stop your mouths. They will by a stream of vain discourse, either bear down, and carry you on with them, or fill your ears, and interrupt and hinder your very thoughts of your minds, by which you desire to profit yourselves, when they will not let you be profitable to others.
The point is that intentionally choosing unbelievers as your close friends will inevitably cause you to spend your time in vanity and wastefulness. As Baxter pointed out, such company will often prevent or divert you from serving God or speaking about Him. They will also habituate your thoughts and actions toward evil, which is the opposite of what God desires of us. The more time that you spend with them, the more your life will start looking like theirs. Rather, if we do befriend unbelievers, it must be as one seeking their salvation. In such a case, we need to have the fortitude to still speak of God and act for God, despite how the unbeliever may want to lead us to do otherwise. We must parade the honour of the Lord before unbelievers, rather than acting as though Christ were something to be ashamed of. There is simply no option to shrink back or to conform to the unbeliever’s worldliness, which is a betrayal of God. If we have a hard time with this, then we ought to spend less time with them and more with those who are spiritually mature and faithful to Christ.
Thief VIII. Another notorious time-wasting thief, is needless, inordinate sports or games, which are commonly stigmatized by the offenders themselves, with the infamous name of pastimes; and masked with the deceitful title of recreations; such as are cards and dice, and stage-plays, and dancings, and revellings, and excesses in the most lawful sports. . . . How it will torment these unhappy souls, to think how they played away these hours, in which they might have been pleasing God, and preventing misery, and laying up a treasure in heaven?
People today can often tend towards this sin in a few ways. For instance, there are those who obsess over sports, such as the composition of sports teams, keeping up with all the players, who wins what, and so on. Many are far more diligent to attend one of these games then they are the Sunday service at their church. The same is true of excessive time spent in playing sports, or going to sports games, or practicing. Another example is an excess in watching movies (or playing electronic games). There is often a whole culture that comes with this obsession, such as knowing what the actors are up to (gossip), who is in what movie, or even an obsession with a particular series or movie. Entertainment in general can be held in this category. Please note that what is not being said here is that sports or entertainment are inherently evil. Rather, the excessive use of what would otherwise be a good thing is the evil, as is the use of these things to replace the Christian’s duty to love God and neighbour. People often do not realize how much time is wasted in pursuing these, or even how sinful these can be.
Next time we will be looking at four more time-thieves.