the dangers of having nothing to do
and what should Christians do instead
David and Bathsheba
One of my favorite characters in the Bible is King David.
But there was a time when he screwed up. Bad.
It was spring, the time when kings usually go to war.
But King David delegated that to his commander, Joab, to chill in his palace.
One day, he went to his roof and saw a beautiful woman bathing.
We don’t know how long he looked, but he probably stared until she finished.
After that, he wanted her. And the only lawful way to have her is to make her his wife.
But he already had 7 wives. Nevertheless, he decided to find out who that beautiful woman was.
He gave the command and after a while, his servant came back and said, “The woman’s name is Bathsheba while her husband’s name is Uriah.”
He was disappointed. He knew it was unlawful to take another man’s wife. So he decided to move on.
But no matter how he tried, he couldn’t.
One day, he couldn’t take it anymore. He commanded his servant to invite Bathsheba to the palace. One thing led to another and they slept together.
That could’ve been the end of it. But about a month later, she sent him a letter.
He panicked. Her husband would find out. She would be stoned. Their baby would die. On top of that, if the men found out that he was the father, they might turn on him.
So, he devised a plan: He would ask Uriah to come back. Uriah would sleep with his wife. So, when the baby comes out, no one will know that he was the father.
Great plan.
He called Uriah back and pretended to ask him how things were on the battlefield. Then, he sent him home.
But he didn’t go home. He couldn’t while his fellow soldiers were fighting in the battlefield. So he slept in the palace lobby.
The next day, King David found out. He invited him for dinner, got him drunk, and sent him home. But again, he slept in the palace lobby.
King David’s plan failed. So he came up with a new plan: get Uriah killed in battle.
He wrote his plan in a letter, sealed it, and commanded Uriah to deliver it to Joab.
The plan worked. Uriah died. David took Bathsheba as his wife. And no one knew what David did.
At least that was what he thought.
You wish you have nothing to do
Most of you have things to do most of the time. And sometimes, you wish you had nothing to do.
But as you see from King David, having nothing to do is dangerous. Why? Because it usually goes something like this:
You start with nothing to do. But that quickly turns into boredom. “I can do anything” quickly turn into “I don’t know what to do.” And that leads to idolatry.
What is idolatry?
Idolatry is where you find satisfaction aside from God or His will. These are not necessarily bad things like clubbing or doing drugs. Even good things like food and your house and car can become idols. Even ministry can become an idol. As long as you find satisfaction in something that’s not God’s will, it’s an idol. And idolatry always leads to sin. Which leads to all kinds of problems.
Let’s look at King David again.
He didn’t go to war because he chose not to. Which led him to have nothing to do. Which led him to go to the roof and see Bathsheba. Which led him to probably think about her all day. Which led him to sleep with her. Which led her to get pregnant. Which led him to murder her husband. And which later in his life, led their son to fall sick and die.
I experienced this recently.
During the pandemic, I couldn’t go to the office and so happened, my workload decreased. Which led me to have nothing to do. Which led me to be bored. Which led me to play chess a lot. Which led me to be addicted. Which led me to neglect my family. I went through a lot to eventually stop.
The circumstance for you could be different. But the sequence is always the same.
You could be clearing leaves, or your plan got canceled, or your family is away. Which lead you to have nothing to do. Which could lead you to be bored. Which could lead you to:
- Binge Netflix which could lead you to watch things you shouldn’t.
- Mindlessly scroll Instagram which could lead you to view a profile that you shouldn’t (like your ex).
- Carelessly scroll an online shopping app which could lead you to buy something you shouldn’t.
The circumstance could be different. But the sequence is always the same.
So, what should you do when we have nothing to do?
Build His House
After King David died, Solomon became king. He had peace. All threats had been eliminated. The brother who wanted his throne and the commander who rebelled had been killed. The priest who rebelled had been banished. And the surrounding countries had been conquered.
So what did he do? 1 Kings 5:3–5 says:
You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’
What should you do when you have nothing to do?
Build His house. And not a physical house. But a house in your heart.
1 Corinthians 3:9 says:
For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
Before you’re born again, your heart is dirty and cluttered.
But after you’re born again, God not only de-clutters your heart, He gives you a new heart. And this new heart comes with a house that has Jesus as the cornerstone, the main foundation, and the Holy Spirit as a tenant.
Ephesians 2:19–20 says:
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone
And 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 says:
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Like every house, this house needs maintenance. How do you maintain it? By practicing the spiritual disciplines of worship, prayer, and reading of the Word.
And just like every house, as time goes by, you’ll want to extend it.
But other things might have creeped inside our our hearts. These things prevents us from extending His house.
So, how do we remove it?
We surrender these things to God. When we do that, Jesus will come into our hearts and cleanse it. And once He has done that, we’ll have hearts that has space for His house to expand.
