Power of Idleness

Power of Idleness           

Key Scripture:  “But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak.”  Matthew 12:36, Amplified Bible

Power Point:

Have you ever seen one of those nifty little shiny red sports cars stopped at a stop-light?

It’s usually a guy trying to impress all the other people in their SUV’s and minivans. He sits there and idles his engine. He makes a lot of noise but he doesn’t go anywhere. That’s a good picture of what Jesus is saying in Matthew 12.  I used to think that He meant that I couldn’t tell jokes or tease my friends-that those were idle words. But I think the point that Jesus is trying to make here is that God’s Words, once spoken, never return without doing what He told them to do!  He says that they will have a positive prospering effect in our lives. 

God’s Word is alive and well. It’s infused with all that God is and all that He plans for us. It is never “idle” or powerless.  God never sits in His shiny red sports car at the crossroads of our lives and idles His engine.  He’s always ready to go. Just as rain prepares the earth for growth so His word prepares the soil of our hearts. If we use it “idly” or let it sit idle in our hearts and don't add our faith to it- it just won’t go anywhere and we'll live our lives in neutral.
It’s similar to when we’re told to not take the Lord’s name in vain. In addition to meaning “blasphemous”, "vain" also means that you must not let His name be without effect in your life. Don’t let it be in vain (fruitless, pointless or unsuccessful).

 What we do to make it the Word grow and flourish is of the utmost importance. We can't sit idly by and expect it to work. When we speak His words from our mouths without adding the power of our faith, we've just spoken them idly. God never doubts His word. We shouldn’t either. It stands to reason that we are responsible to know The Word, and His Words and then apply the power of faith that will make them active, energetic and powerful. He's given us His sword. It's up to us to learn how to use it.

You don't want to make a lot of noise and go nowhere do you?  Then don't let His name or His Word be idle and ineffective in your life.


Power Thought:

If God said it, I believe it. If I believe it, I'll act on it. If I act on it believing it, I'll succeed every time because God said it and I believed it. And I acted on it because I believed ...