One of the most tempting things for me is grabbing my phone first thing in the morning and scrolling through the news updates. By the time I’m done scrolling through my news feed, I get a notification to refresh the page in order to read the latest article about fatalities related to the coronavirus. Tap “refresh” and here we go again from the top.
Once my mind goes numb from refreshing my news feed several times, I turn to YouTube, to watch commentary on… you guessed it!… the current pandemic. Admittedly, most of the commentary is spiritual in nature, but I do sneak in a few videos about investing in times of recession (hint: grocery companies).
Photo by dole777 on Unsplash
If at this point, my wife hasn’t yelled at me to help prepare breakfast for the girls, I’ll turn to Twitter, which is an entire rabbit hole on its own.
Admittedly, in the past week, this pattern of social media binging, did not only take place in the morning. When the girls are napping, after supper and before I fall asleep.
Last night I thought to myself, “This is ridiculous. I’m just numbing myself. I gotta do something about it.”
The Dangers of Boredom
I realized that the root of my seemingly uncontrollable urge to numb myself is boredom. Because of the busy and “on the go” nature of our society, boredom for us is what headaches are to alcoholics who go into withdrawal after stopping drinks cold turkey. It’s almost unbearable!
A famous proverb reads, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”
For some it can be easier to believe in God than the devil, since I think we have trivialized the devil in kid’s cartoons. Let me set the record straight; the devil is not a red dude in spandex with a pitchfork who likes to party. In the book of Ezekiel the devil is described as a fallen spiritual being (so no physical appearance) who rebelled against God (see. Ezekiel 28:16).
In Hebrew, the name “Satan” mean “deceiver.”
Don’t be Deceived!
The devil is a spiritual being who seeks to deceive us into turning away from God. He of course lives up to his name in Genesis 3, when he deceives Adam and Eve into believing that they can be greater than God.
So what is a deception? One dictionary definition reads, “The act of deliberately making somebody believe something that is not true.”
In my social media binge example, I convinced myself that I am informing myself of the latest news as a responsible citizen. But in reality, I was way passed “informing myself.” I was numbing myself to the point where I was not doing anything productive and life affirming, like spending time with my kids.
In addition, my eyes were burning and I felt emotionally and physically drained before even getting out of bed!
One of the dangers for many of us in the next few months will be boredom. For many, including myself, boredom tempts us to fall into old or new negative habits.
Stay Sharp!
Try to keep yourself sharp. Don’t develop a habit of sleeping in, endless scrolling through social media or binge watching The Office (guilty!). When you keep yourself sharp, you and everyone under your roof will be blessed.
In his book, Ezekiel receives a vision of water flowing out from under the altar in the Jerusalem temple, out of the temple into the Jordan River, to the basin of Arabah (in modern day Syria) and finally into the stagnant sea (see Ezekiel 47:1-12). Along the river Ezekiel sees “all kinds of trees for food.”
Ezekiel writes, “Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
A little bit of history on this imagery before I conclude. In the ancient Jerusalem temple, a man made stream would flowed from the altar into the city, into a river and eventually into the Dead Sea. When a lamb was sacrificed during the Passover on the altar of the temple, the blood would drain from the altar into the stream and flow out into the city and eventually into various water sources. In antiquity, blood and water were signs of life. Therefore, the water mixed with blood from the lamb sacramentally sanctified (made holy) anything it touched.
Just as the flowing water from the temple brought about life for the Jewish people, so do we bring “life” into our household when we practice life-giving habits instead of remaining stagnant like stale water.
Here are six habits I’m going to try to be intentional with in the coming months: 1) Wake up before my family 2) Exercise for at least 30 minutes 3) write on my blog (with a large cup of coffee) 4) play with my kids 5) read books I always wanted to but never had the time for 6) tutor online for Hungarian and French. I know this will keep me feeling good. When I feel good, my family feels good.
What can you do to avoid idleness and stay sharp?
Prayer
Father God, we thank you for the gifts you have given us. We pray for the motivation and patience to conquer through these uncertain times. Most importantly, we pray for the souls of those who recently have passed from this world into the peace of your presence and for frontline workers who continue to serve our needs. We make this prayer through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.