Aug 16, 2011
Can We Avoid Sin by Staying Busy?
I had the privilege of growing up as a Catholic which means I spent my time learning pithy little, extra-biblical sayings and fearing both God and nuns—though not always in that order.
Fate being a cruel thing, I have come full circle and concocted my own little pithy little, extra-biblical saying: Stay busy, sin less. I like it because it’s counter-intuitive because we often think of the word “busy” as a bad thing.
Don’t we need more leisure and rest?
Sin and the Right Kind of Busy
Avoiding sin is not so much a matter of restraint as of occupation. I’ve found that it’s important to be the right kind of busy.
If we’re busy with God, then we won’t allow ourselves time to get into trouble, and he can transform us. However, that won’t happen while watching TV or browsing Facebook. I’m still working on a way to derive spiritual growth from my time on Twitter.
I’ll tweet you if it works out.
The right kind of busy looks like a cycle that begins with offering myself and listening. It ends with praise.
Listening
I begin each day both fighting my morning grogginess and restraining my desire to launch into my writing for the day as I try to clear a spot in my mind where God can settle and say something to me. I need to hear God, and I need to receive his direction for my day, trusting him with the process and the results.
Obeying
When I get a sense of what I need to do, I can begin my day at peace and in faith, trusting that God will provide what I need and that he’ll give me the grace to work through the day’s obstacles. If I sense that I need to do something specific or avoid something, then obedience is important in order to stay connected with him.
Obedience builds up our resistance against sin. I think of it as momentum. Once I’m hearing God and obeying him, I feel great and want to stick with it. If I’m busy listening to God and obeying him throughout my day, then sin can’t find any room.
Praise
I have quite a few long term goals that I’m working on in addition to my short term goals, and therefore I usually try to review my progress each day or week to see where I’m at. This has been a great practice not only for my writing but for my worship of God.
If I can praise God for the outcome of my day, then I know I’ve been relying on his provision. If my hand is firmly planted on my back, then I know I’ve been relying on myself.
Praise is one of the best ways to end a day. When I wake up the next morning to battle with my morning grogginess, it’s heartening to be reminded of yesterday’s provision as I seek God’s leading for a new day.
The Right Kind of Busy
Remaining in a cycle of listening to/waiting on God, obeying God, and praising God keeps us busy in the right kinds of ways that can generally prevent sin from even crossing one’s mind. I’m not saying that this keeps sin from ever happening, but a cycle of listening, obeying, and praising strikes me as one way to abide in Jesus and to steer clear of sin.
