I can think of dozens of time-wasting activities that vacuum up hours and days with very little return. Of course watching television is one of them. Another one is drifting through Pinterest or just aimlessly surfing the Internet. I can also use up many hours searching for new information to add to my family tree.
I’m not against TV, or looking at
pictures, or gathering information, or even genealogical research, but I’ve
learned these things are not the best focus for my free time – and if I do any
of them very often, there is none of that left either!
Some Christians in the New Testament needed
to watch out for the genealogy thing. They didn’t have ancestry.com back in
those days, but some of them were hooked on something like it. Without the
details, I will not speculate about what this means, but I do notice that Paul put
it in the same category as false doctrine, myths and empty discussion!
Obviously this pursuit was not good for them . . .
“As
I urged you when I was leaving for Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus to instruct
certain people not to spread false teachings, nor to occupy themselves with
myths and interminable genealogies. Such things promote useless speculations
rather than God’s redemptive plan that operates by faith. But the aim of our
instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a
sincere faith. Some have strayed from these and turned away to empty
discussion. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand
what they are saying or the things they insist on so confidently. But we know
that the law is good if someone uses it legitimately, realizing that law is not
intended for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for the
ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane . . . .” (1 Timothy 1:3–9,
NET)
If Paul were writing today, he may have
said something like this: “Tell false teachers to stop it, and to stop their preoccupation
with stuff that doesn’t matter. It only gets them speculating about stuff that
they cannot know or prove. Instead, their focus (and yours) should be on God’s
plan of redemption through faith. This wonderful Gospel message promotes
purity, a clear conscience, and genuine faith, all our goal for everyone. When any
of you step away from goal into empty talk and vain ambition, you demonstrate
that you don’t really know what the Gospel is all about. Not only that, false
teachers become hung up on law-keeping the law without realizing its purpose.
God gave it to convict those who are not saved. It needs to be used for that,
not to put guilt trips on God’s people . . . .”
This is about freedom as well. Because Jesus
set me free from the power of sin, my heart is now free to love others as God loves
them. Also, my conscience is free from self-accusation and crippling guilt, and
my faith is real, not pretense or hypocrisy. Freedom is not about doing what I want,
or what pleases me. The only way I can be totally free is keeping my focus on God’s
plan and what pleases Him.
To be realistic, the descriptions in that
previous paragraph have a caveat. I cannot enjoy Gospel freedom if I choose the
other kind that says freedom is living without self-discipline or restraint. Once
I go there, I’ve lost my power over sin and all love for others. Before long, I’m
feeling guilty about sin and wondering if God is even real. Such ‘freedom’
pulls the plug and true freedom goes down the drain.
True freedom means being filled with the Holy
Spirit. Here is a list of what He produces and particularly notice the last
item: “But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control . . .”
The passage goes on to say that when the Spirit
governs my life, I do not need Law. Because I belong to Jesus Christ, I have
crucified the old nature with its passions and desires and now live by the
Spirit and God’s grace. Most important — I need to stay in step with the Spirit,
not pull the plug and go back to being conceited, or to provoking people and envying
them, losing my freedom to the bondage of sin. (Galatians 5:22–26)
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