Boring
It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. – 2 Samuel 11:1-4.
A 25-year-old woman in Germany became a little upset over the Saturday night television viewing options. She was angered because of the slate of boring programs and even more boring reruns. Her solution? Probably what we all ought to do – she threw the television out of her fifth-floor apartment window. Veronika K. told newspaper reporters, “There was nothing decent on so I just threw the thing out the window.” Thankfully, no one was injured as a result of the falling television set and Veronika later calmed down and watched another television with her family.
Veronika’s real problem is not with boring television programs and reruns. Her real problem is that she is so bored she relies on what the entertainment industry happens to provide to give her enjoyment in life. Boredom is a dangerous condition as King David found out. David’s boredom was a result of his shirking his responsibilities. How did he shirk his responsibilities? His army along with his mighty men were out fighting battles during “the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle….” It was during this time that David grew bored and found some adulterous entertainment with Bathsheba. David was in the wrong place at the wrong time and apparently so was Bathsheba. Maybe they were both bored. Bathsheba may have been bored because her husband was out fighting battles and was exactly where he was supposed to be.
It has been said that “idle hands are the devil’s tools” and there is much truth in the saying. Allowing yourself to become accustomed to the boring and non-productive activities of the world is just asking for trouble. The world sees nothing wrong with laying around all day every day and doing nothing. Unless you miss work or cause someone else some inconvenience and then the world does care.
How can we avoid the trap of boredom and unproductiveness? The Bible says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).” How do we “walk in the Spirit?” In Romans 6 we are told, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God (Romans 6:12-13).” The key thought for avoidance of boredom and for walking in the Spirit is presenting yourself or submitting yourself to God. Instead of allowing sin to reign in your life give yourself to God – walk in the Spirit. If we have given control of our lives to God and are walking in the Spirit, we will not be bored.
There are always choices in life, and we can choose to be bogged down in the worldly choices for entertainment or we can step outside of the world’s boring box. We can willfully submit ourselves to the will of God and in doing so we will find that we have been given the cure for boredom. We will have life!
(Allowing ourselves to become focused only on the attractions of the world will lead to problems.)