One
of the largest of monsters in the land of computing may also be the
most subtle. It is wastefulness. Employers are faced with workers
that increasingly spend time:
- With personal email,
- playing computer games,
- Internet surfing of sexual content,
- and intentional poor scheduling of goals and deadlines.
There
are many scriptural references about time-wasters, idleness, and
being a sluggard. Proverbs 6:6 is an enjoyable one to admonish
ourselves and make a solid step toward fine-tuning the powerhouse in
my shoes:
Go
to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which
having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the
summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou
sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a
little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to
sleep:
Youth
at home spend many hours each day playing addictive games that
neither challenge, teach life skills, nor honor God. Instead, we need
computer activities that get us to think and create. These activities
also need to help us to continually examine ourselves, our
spirituality, and our people skills based on scriptural directives.
“My
friend taught me about communicating in chat rooms on the computer,”
a lady work associate in her mid twenties, once told me. She
continued, “I then connected with my friend who I had not talked
with, in a long time. Since our house had two telephone lines it did
not pose a problem. I’m telling you the truth. That first day we
talked more than SEVEN continuous hours!”
Christian
computing
magazines
tell
us
it
is
customary
for
student
girls
to
spend
around
3 hours
EACH
SCHOOL
DAY
in
chat
rooms.
There
are
valuable
directives
to
young
ladies
in
1st Timothy
5. But
look
especially
at
verse
13:
And
withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house;
and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things
which they ought not.
Not
only
are
chat
rooms
a
terrible
waste
of
time
but
they
also
provide
easy
access
to
unsupervised
anonymous
communication
with
anyone
anywhere
in
the
world.
Of
the
many
valuable
guidelines
concerning
our
speech
Matthew
12:36, 37 says,
But
I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou
shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
