The last 100 years has seen the introduction of hundreds, if not thousands, of “labor saving devices.” The time a person spends doing the laundry is a fraction of the time our great-great grandparents spent at the local creek or bent over a rusty old bucket of water and lye soap. Modern kitchen appliances, microwave ovens and dishwashers have likewise cut the time it takes to prepare a meal and clean up afterwards. Power mowers, weed-eaters, trimmers and power blowers have made yard care a bearable chore. Office computers, printers, smart phones, I-pads and I-pods help us keep in touch with the world, generate and produce printed reports, and access the world wide web for information that previously was accessible only at the local library (and that only if you happened to live in a city that was large enough to provide such). Our jet liners and automobiles get us there faster, our cell phones connect us faster, our office equipment helps us get the work done faster, and all of those little conveniences around the house and at business make it possible to get life’s chores completed in a flash, with time to spare. Then we can sit down at the TV with DVD player and spend our leisure time in relaxation, or we can get on the computer and wile away the minutes and hours playing some “silly computer game.” The labor saving devices that have been invented in our life time and that of our grandparents has provided us with so much “leisure time” that we often find ourselves bored with life, and seeking to fill those moments of inactivity with trivial things rather than something that is productive and useful. In 2008 the American Heart Association reported the following statistics: “While most teenagers (60 percent) spend on average 20 hours per week in front of television and computer screens, a third spend closer to 40 hours per week, and about 7 percent are exposed to more than 50 hours of 'screen-time' per week.” Doctors have warned that we are raising a generation of computer addicts who are so tied to their technological devices that they neglect other responsibilities. From a Biblical perspective, Paul warned, “But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof: from these also turn away” (2 Tim. 3:1-5, emphasis mine, TW). Paul’s warning is not a prohibition of pleasure but an admonition to keep our priorities in check. Like many other innocent activities, it is not the action itself that is wrong, but the amount of time one might spend in that activity that becomes a danger. It is what a person is not doing with the rest of his/her time.
No doubt you have heard the adage that serves as the title of this week’s column: “The road of by and by leads to the house of never.” Neglect is the culprit that will cause a lot of otherwise faithful Christians to be lost. The Hebrews writer asked, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Heb. 2:3). Intentions are no substitute for faithful obedience. It has been almost thirty years since I came across the following observation: “Neglect has never been guilty of wrong action but has been responsible for many lives being lost, trains being wrecked, ships having gone down at sea, cities being burned, battles being lost, and governments having failed. Neglect has never struck a blow nor spoken an unkind word, but has caused many homes to break up, friendships to grow cold, wives to shed bitter tears, and father s and mothers to go broken-hearted to their graves.”
While doing local work in Oklahoma I would often hear the supposedly true story of an Indian chief who lived near Tulsa, and, along with other members of the Osage tribe, became very wealthy with oil money. He bought a Cadillac, a black tuxedo, and a high silk hat. He admired stories about Abraham Lincoln and would go about town seeking to imitate the late President’s habit of talking to anybody that would listen. He was always alone in his Cadillac, even though he never learned to drive. You see, it was pulled by two black horses! The point of the story is this. Many have at their disposal amazing opportunities to do good to others, to increase their knowledge or to serve the Master in some profitable way. Failing to use what God has placed in their hands, they neglect the opportunities and wile away the minutes and hours on things that are so insignificant. The judgment day scene depicted in Matthew 25 teaches us that multitudes will be lost, not because of some evil or wicked act thus committed, but because of their neglect of the good they could have done. Even more pointed is the warning our Master gave to the church at Laodicea: “I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot. So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15-16). Neglect! Pure and simple! I’ll close with the words of an unknown poet:
PUT-OFF TOWN
Did you ever go to Put-Off town,
Where the houses are old and tumble-down,
And everything tarries and everything drags,
With dirty streets and people in rags?
On the street of Slow lives Old Man Wait,
And his two little boys named Linger and Late ;
With unclean hands and tousled hair,
And a naughty little sister named I Don t Care.
Grandmother Growl lives in this town,
With her two little daughters called Fret and Frown ;
And Old Man Lazy lives all alone
Around the corner on Street Postpone.
Did you ever go to Put-Off town
To play with the little girls, Fret and Frown,
Or to the home of Old Man Wait,
And whistle for his boys to come to the gate?
To play all day on Tarry Street,
Leaving your errands for other feet ?
To stop or shirk, or linger, or frown,
Is the nearest way to this old town.