The "B" Word

Here are the facts: it's Thursday afternoon. I have nothing on, nowhere to go, no one to see. My grandpa is in New Brunswick visiting friends, my dad is at work - that means I have no car. It's pouring rain outside. I am ... no! I can't say it. The consequences would be too terrible. What was I going to say, you ask? Well, if you promise not to tell my mom, I was going to say that I was bored. Ssh! Don't let her hear you say it in our house! Bored is the "b" word in our home, the summer swear word. Forget about Mom sitting me in the bathroom and washing my mouth out with soap - she'd hand me the soap and make me wash the bathroom! Yes, it's a commonly known rule in our house that if you claim you're bored, you've willfully given yourself over to Mom's evil clutches ... er ... I mean, capable hands. She'll either put you to work doing chores or sit you down and make you do school (one of the few downsides of being homeschooled!) But why does she do that? Is it because she's pure evil? Or does she really have our greater good in mind?

Well, because she's Mom (and she's really not evil), I'm going to go with the last option - she has our greater good in mind. But what is that good? Basically, she doesn't want us to be bored, because when we're bored we waste time. We plop ourselves in front of the TV or just lie around and do nothing. And as fun and good for us as that is (or not), that is really not a good use for our time. And Mom wants us to make the best use of our time. She doesn't want us to waste precious minutes, hours, days that could be used for the glory of God - whether doing productive things like caring for our home by cleaning it or growing in knowledge as we study different things through school work. She wants us to heed 1 Corinthians 10:31 - "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." And being bored is not glorifying to God. Same as Ephesians 5:16, where Paul encourages the church in Ephesus to "mak[e] the best use of the time, because the days are evil." 

That doesn't mean that all we're allowed to do during the summer is chores and school work; Mom encourages us to read and practice our music instruments and play outside and shoot hoops and have fun. But when we refuse to do those things, choosing the less productive road of being bored, she sees that we can't make the best use of our time on our own, so she needs to help us. She wants us to put to practice Colossians 3:17, "And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

So as the summer continues, and the days get longer and hotter, and the responsibilities get less and less, let's seek to glorify God with our time so that we don't have to mention the "b" word.