Escape from Boredom’s Path
John 10:10
Intro
Jesus said, “A man’s life consist not in the abundance of things which he possess. Yet men and women today feverishly are seeking satisfaction in power, profit, and pleasure. As the poet Cowper has said, these people will be disappointed in their search, for they are seeking in the wrong places for happiness.
Lord Byron was a genius with position and wealth in his possession. All of these advantages could not bring him lasting satisfaction and inward peace. On his 33rd birthday, he was standing in the center of boredom’s path, and he wrote:
Through life’s dull road so dim and dirty,
I have dragged to three and thirty.
What have these years left me?
Nothing, except thirty three.
Scores of people can be classified as being both bored and boring. Seeing no real meaning in life, they scowl and accuse. Having their own pattern of thoughts, they choose never to widen the circumference of their outlook. To such people, every ship seems romantic except the one on which they sail. Boredom’s path is indeed crowded.
I. How does one enter boredom’s path?
a. By being content with mediocrity.
i. Willingness to be mediocre leads to boredom’s path
ii. The scope and magnitude of this mediocrity is seen in many facets of our society.
iii. Public education is not as strong as it should be.
iv. Industry is satisfied to manufacture cheap products.
v. Employees do substandard work and waste company time
vi. Even the church must come in for a scathing indictment at this point: Programs and often poorly planned, music is often ineffectively rendered, and sermons are often more noise than content.
b. Purposelessness brings one to boredom’s path.
i. For many, life is not going anywhere
ii. It seems to be only a series of circles, an endless round or routines.
iii. People who have no sense of mission, or who have undertaken so many diverse endeavors that their lives are fragmented, need to organize their lives so that they can say with Paul, “One thing I do!”
c. Idleness brings one to boredom’s path
i. An old saying does, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”
ii. True enough. Extended idleness is also a breeding ground for boredom.
iii. People who do not work, have not worked, and are not planning to work are bored half to death.
iv. In the last days of the Roman empire the people demanded not only bread but also a circus. Why?
1. They wanted something to care for their stomachs and to minister to their boredom.
2. Idleness often brings one to boredom’s path.
d. A wrong attitude toward life leads to boredom’s path
i. You will find yourself in the middle of boredom’s path if you have a wrong attitude toward life.
ii. A spirit of selfishness that says, “I’m going to do my own thing!” leads to boredom’s path.
1. You keep doing things your own way and eventually you will be all alone.
II. What does it cost to stay on boredom’s path
a. It cost the loss of reverence
i. Boredom makes us irreverent toward all life.
ii. We pass by some of life’s most sacred things without a glance, with no reaction whatever.
iii. Life becomes mechanical
b. It costs the loss of enthusiasm.
i. Enthusiasm is a word that has for its root meaning, “God in us.”
ii. It means to be possessed by God.
iii. When one is caught in the midst of boredom, the childish wonder and awe of life disappear, and the dullness of life takes control.
c. It costs the loss of superior work.
i. A bored person will produce inferior work
ii. Employees bored with their jobs can hardly be expected to produce an acceptable product.
iii. A housewife who is bored usually finds her home in disarray, and she wonders why.
d. It cost the loss of contentment and happiness
i. Boredom slows down the clock and lengthens the days.
ii. The day never ends for someone caught on boredom’s path, it just seems to go on and on and on.
III. Boredom’s path leads to many dead ends
Various unbiblical answers abound.
a. There is the answer of despair
i. Despair says, “Life will always be boring and empty. There is no escape. Just curse God and die. End it all!”
ii. This is the decision that thousands choose every year.
b. Stoicism says boredom of life can be escaped by sealing your heart to all feeling.
i. Put it away
ii. Deaden your emotions
iii. Refuse ever to give in to tears.
iv. Turn away from the thought that life is empty.
v. Harden your heart until it does not bother you.
c. There is the answer of denial
i. A young girl who found life in her hometown empty and boring said to a group of her young friends, “Go with me to Florida, and there we will have the fragrance of orange blossoms. Every night we will have the lilt of dance, and we will sleep in the daytime and forget it all.”
ii. Many people have chosen denial as a means to overcome boredom,.
iii. They have merely tried to tell themselves over an over again, “Life isn’t empty. It’s not boring. Forget about it.”
iv. Such a procedure does not alter the facts as they exist.
IV. The only escape from boredom’s path
We can escape boredom if we know Jesus Christ as Savior and have a growing experience with him. If there is no growth, boredom is certain to come.
a. Growth in Christ leads to abundant life.
i. Jesus said in John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
ii. “Abundantly” is a rich adverb.
iii. It is overflowing compensation for effort
iv. The only escape from boredom’s path is growth in Christ, for only Christ can make life more abundant.
b. Growth in Christ will engender a song in the soul.
i. Growth in Christ will drive away the discord of life and leave new harmony in its place.
ii. Remember the state of Paul and Silas who were thrown into a Philippian jail.
1. the despondency and gloom of the hour was driven away because of their growth in Christ.
2. There was a song in their souls.
c. Growth in Christ will produce a radiance on the face.
i. One of the great compliments Jesus paid his followers was this: “You are the light of the world.”
ii. We are to be shining lights in a world of darkness.
iii. We ought to have an inner glow resulting from our relationship to the source of light, Christ.
iv. Just as the moon has no light of its own and reflects the light of the sun, so Christians are to reflect the light of Christ.
v. Escape from boredom’s path is found whenever we grow in Christ; it will produce radiance on the face.
d. Growth in Christ will produce a joyful religion.
i. Growth in Christ will make one’s heard merry and one’s mind active
ii. The promise in Psalm 1:3 is this, “The godly man shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in season; his lead also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.”
iii. Escape from boredom’s path is found whenever we grow in Christ, for it will produce a joyful religion.
Closing
A woman remarked in disgust as she threw down a book, “I believe that is the dullest book I have ever read.” A few years later the same woman met the author of that dull book. Eventually she found herself in love with the author, and they were married. Under those conditions she reread the book. The second reading produced a different impression altogether. Why? Because love gives meaning to anything and anybody. Many think that life is empty and boring. They find themselves wandering on boredom’s path. But life can become a magnificent obsession when you come to know and love the Author.
