Idleness & Idolatry – Part 1
By Margaret D. Mitchell
Week of April 7, 2024
For several days in a row, Holy Spirit spoke to me about idols and being idle in this order, giving me a revelation that these two sins are closely related.
His purpose is twofold: First, to deal with any residual in our lives that may be holding us back and, secondly, to help us guard against these culprits forward.
Our gracious Lord is setting us up for victory going into the promised land by both forewarning and fortifying us against the enemy's temptations and captivations.
After highlighting several verses and digging out Biblical definitions, He brought to mind Achan at Ai. If you’re not familiar with his story, you can read it in the Book of Joshua, chapter 7.
Here's the Word that came forth:
Status quo is over! It's time to "shift into bigger!"
There’s no room for carnal pleasures of the past. It’s time to rise and do the work God instructed. It’s time to awaken to the new. It’s time to lift our heads and celebrate our new beginnings. It’s time for joyous synergy!
The destruction of yesterday will be no more for God’s people. It’s time to leap over the ash heap and build anew. It’s time to go and do the will of God.
Miracles of intervention will take place in the middle of working through a mess (Job 8).
Do not fear, for fears of all types can cause a sense of dread and idleness. Distractions and wrong priorities are also culprits.
What we think we have to do may not be so, according to God. Do the one thing He instructed (Isaiah 47:17).
He has been growing us in submission to Him and is now reprioritizing and opening doors for what’s most important to produce fruit. He has healed and restored us to do the work at hand and do it diligently.
Our time is not our own!
Isaiah 47:8 TPT speaks of Babylon as a “pampered lover of pleasure.” But God is righting life for His people. He is tearing down false empires, self-proclaimed dynasties and repositioning His people out of bondage and false systems to do Kingdom work.
He is actively working Psalm 75:10, which is to empower the uncompromising righteous and disempower the ungodly. He is dealing with idle ideas, the idle maker (enemy) and idle makers (those aligned with devil).
He is setting things right by His grace-power. He is putting an end to bondages suddenly and in a single day (Isaiah 47:9).
Enough captivity!
It’s time to be captivated by God above all else. He's cutting ties and tethers to what was. He’s resetting His people for better and far better.
What have you been bound to? It’s time to realize God sees and knows.
It’s time to be set free. It’s time to get up and go do the work at hand by God’s grace-power. It’s time to expand with the active wisdom and knowledge of Christ. It’s time for truth to pierce the darkness.
It’s time to be set free, to go and do. To build God’s Kingdom!
Idleness
In 2 Thessalonians 3, we read that Paul instructs the church to imitate him and his team. He points out that they were not idle in relationship with them and that they worked day and night, as to not burden them (vs 7-9).
The Word “idle” (Strong’s #812) here means "to be out of order, be remiss." To “riot, rebel, behave disorderly,” neglect duty and to be careless in habits. It means to "behave improperly" and "behave self-disorderly."
Another commentary defines idleness as "...to be out of proper order (arrangement), i.e., breaking rank (disregarding commands, authority)" (Helps). And a third commentary defines it as to "act in an undisciplined manner" (NAS). A fourth commentary defines it as "of soldiers marching out of order or quitting the ranks, to be neglectful of duty, to be lawless, to lead a disorderly life" (Thayer’s).
Being idle, of course, is the opposite of God recipe for success, which is described in Isaiah 47:17 TPT, where He says, “I am the One who teaches you how to succeed and who leads you step by step in the way you should go.”
In this simple, put powerful verse, we can see God’s authority and that He requires order, action and our obedience.
To be sure, we do not want to model the Babylonians, who were confused, rebellious pleasure seekers that met their demise (Isaiah 47).
Proverbs 14:23 TPT reminds us that "If you work hard at what you do, great abundance will come to you. But merely talking about getting rich while living to only pursue your pleasures brings you face-to-face with poverty."
Thankfully, the apostle Peter shares seven virtues we already have within us that will keep us from being “inactive or fruitless” (Strong’s #692) (2 Peter 1:8). They are goodness, understanding, strength of self-control, patient endurance, godliness, mercy and unending love (2 Peter 1:5-7).
That’s all for this week. Join me next week for Part 2 of Idleness & Idolatry.
To God be the glory.
Margaret D. Mitchell is the Founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ.
