I don\u2019t like giving the enemy any headlines. But I sensed I needed to blatantly warn my readers to \u201cKEEP OUT\u201d of the devil\u2019s workshop! Proverbs 16:27 says: \u201cIdle hands are the devil\u2019s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece.\u201d I read those words and had to perform open heart surgery on myself; rather, look in and outside to see if I am being idle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think I passed the test since I write these blogs and spend up to three hours a day on them. I work out at least an hour several days a week. I go to Bible Studies. I serve at two churches. I volunteer at the Family Center two full days a week. When I\u2019m at home, I\u2019m usually catching up on my \u201cto-do\u201d list like bookkeeping, home-cleaning, personal devotions, counseling family and friends. I have little time to be idle, but maybe I need to be sure I\u2019m NOT hanging out in the devil\u2019s workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I needed to research this debacle. I found that the landowner had an issue with some folks who were hanging out on the corner waiting for someone to give them work to do: \u201cWhy do you stand here idle all day?\u201d (Matthew 20:6)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The word \u2018idle\u2019 has new meaning to me as I serve at the Family Center. Never are we idle. We are either showing someone items they must have, or they need some love and a little time to express their pain and suffering, or helping navigate the crowds (like the traffic control we need on Saturdays for the hundreds that come to the Food Pantry).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honestly, I love it, but there are times that it is laborious, rarely idle. It may look like we\u2019re idle standing on our feet all day, but believe me, my feet and back say otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In today\u2019s culture, we are rarely idle. In fact, most of us don\u2019t stop till we hit the pillow at night. We are used to serving in a way that feels fulfilling, has purpose, and provides accolades for our work and achievements. But, then the enemy whispers in our ears: \u201cCome to my workshop where I can give you a dose of pride!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yikes! Even me sharing that I am rarely idle sounds pride filled. That question: \u201cWhy do you stand here idle all day?\u201d, caused me to reflect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAm I idle in my spiritual life? Am I seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness or am I too idle to notice? And flip the coin, am I too busy and God is calling me to BE idle so I might grow in my fellowship with Him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There will come a day when we will be idle because our bodies have grown weak and frail. I see that firsthand with people that come in the Family Center in their wheelchairs or having to use a cane to maneuver their way. God calls us to NOT be idle by being His hands and feet daily. We must make sure we\u2019re always \u201cready, willing and able\u201d to respond to the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Apostle Paul believed in the power of a positive attitude. His motto was, \u201cI can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.\u201d (Philippians 4:13) May the same be said of you and me today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I don\u2019t like giving the enemy any headlines. But I sensed I needed to blatantly warn my readers to \u201cKEEP OUT\u201d of the devil\u2019s workshop! Proverbs 16:27 says: \u201cIdle hands are the devil\u2019s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece.\u201d I read those words and had to perform open heart surgery on myself; rather, look in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26329,26330],"tags":[1210,5143,1769,26323,26327,2391,26324,40,18112,26326,1685,2679,26325,205,12713,8707,2653,599],"class_list":["post-17788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devils-workshop","category-idleness","tag-blog","tag-busy","tag-christian","tag-devils-workshop","tag-family-center","tag-i-can-do-all-things","tag-idle","tag-inspiration","tag-keep-out","tag-landowner","tag-philippians-413","tag-pride","tag-proverbs-1627","tag-purpose","tag-righteousness","tag-seek-first-the-kingdom","tag-spiritual-life","tag-volunteer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17793,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17788\/revisions\/17793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}