How To Waste Time

How many of you enjoy wasting time? I don't mean doing things that are just not constructive like watching TV or reading a comic book. I mean how many of you like to just sit and do absolutely nothing, especially when there are things that need to be done? Very few people would say they enjoy doing nothing and just wasting time. And yet we do it all the time.

You may have seen the surveys that show how much time we waste doing everyday things. We spend like 2 years of our lives just looking for our keys. We spend 6 years waiting in lines and I'm pretty sure it's about a thousand years we spend on hold on the phone trying to talk to the utility companies. Oh, that's the worst, with that annoying music they have while you wait. It's awful. It's torture. And don't get me started about waiting in the doctor's office.

Years ago I walked into an antique shop in south Texas. Nobody was around so I looked for a while and made my way toward the back where I could hear some noise. I saw a man in the warehouse in back sitting next to an old chest of drawers or dresser of some kind and he was scraping the paint off of it with a small chisel or something. I watched him for a minute and he worked so incredibly slow. He was very meticulous but he had a lot of work to be done and he was obviously in no hurry.

I politely coughed so he would see me and know somebody was actually in his store. He looked up and saw me and made his way up and over to me and introduced himself as the owner. He then said, and I promise this is true, as he stuck out his hand he said his name was Bob, or whatever, but his friends called him "Flash". I assumed it was sort of like calling a bald guy "Curly" or a big guy "Tiny" because Flash moved so slowly.

I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was stripping the paint off that dresser. Well, sitting right next to where he had been sitting was a can of paint stripper. When I asked him why he didn't use the paint stripper, he asked me, "Well, then what would I do?" And I realized that Flash had nothing else to do. He had no customers and nothing to do so why not make this project last so at least he was doing something?

It's hard for most of us to relate to that kind of life. We are all so busy and, yet, we too waste time every day in some ways. I thought it would be appropriate as we approach the new year to think of a couple of ways that we could really waste some time. I don't mean to waste a little time here and there but some ways that we can really just totally kill some large blocks of precious time that we will never get back.

And today I want to see how much time we can lose, waste, or kill when we worry. The Bible speaks several times about the subject of worry. And we know that we are not to worry but sometimes it seems so difficult not to. But I think sometimes we don't realize why God doesn't want us to worry. We know that He loves us and cares for us and doesn't want us to worry because it's not best for us.

And that's true. Matthew 11 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." He loves us and wants us to not be burdened by worry. And we think that is the only reason why God doesn't want us to worry. We think it's sort of like our friend telling us that we really should get some exercise. And we know we should and so we do a little bit, but you know...

This isn't a friend recommending that we get a little more exercise. This is a doctor saying that if you don't get more exercise then you are not going to live much longer. Every time the Bible says not to worry, it's a command. It is just as much a command as "Do not steal" or "Do not kill." Worry is a sin and we will see why in Matthew 6:25-34. You should have a Bible right there in front of you. Turn to the first book in the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 25-34.