By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
Ecclesiastes 10:18
Decayeth in our verse means to bring low, to tumble in ruins.
Droppeth through means to drip, to melt, to drop, it also means to weep.
I don’t think any of us want our houses to look like what’s pictured do we? What we see is a house that once was beautiful and welcoming but now reflects what is neglected, forgotten and ruined.
Our houses over time begin to show signs of decay. The roof may leak when it rains or the plumbing may have sprung a leak. The paint isn’t as fresh as it once was, there’s clutter building up in corners and closets, and so on. We all have something that needs attention in our houses. If we neglect these warnings and just let them go, it creates a bigger problem. We have to make proper repairs before the house isn’t fit to live in.
In a fast paced world we live in, We choose the option that I’d rather pay someone to do it for me. We have someone wash the car, do the lawn, cook for our families (takeout), clean the house, etc… So we think I don’t have time so I’ll just get someone to do it for me. There are some things that we ourselves need to do. Whether it’s paying someone or rolling our sleeves up and tackling it ourselves.
Our “Spiritual Houses” suffer in similar ways. We have to check up on our devotion in Bible reading, prayer, our attitudes, our motives. Our lives need to be walking and talking “Houses of God”. We are the church and every where we go we should represent a Holy Sanctuary.
Sadly, we let carryover into our Christian walks the ‘I’ll pay someone to do it for me attitude.’ We let someone do devotions for us. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading and listening to nuggets from others who walk with the Lord. BUT, this should never take the place of my personal devotional time with the Lord. When we get slothful and idle, slack and lazy our devotion with the Lord starts to suffer. Our attitude stinks and our care for His House seems to lessen.
How is our service in His House? Are we faithful to every service? Are we faithful to serve in a ministry? Are we faithful to do those things required to keep the House of God running right? Or, do we just say “oh the Preacher, the deacons or so and so will do it? I don’t have time. I’ve got things that I need to be doing. I’ll just “pay” my tithes and make a showing and bam I’ve done my service.” Oh my friend, this is spiritual house decay. Oh I know none of us don’t want our walk with Him to be considered as tumbling in ruins or dropping through. But, as we let the things of this world get in the way of our time of spending with the Lord, it changes our service for Him. We’ve got to recognize it and make proper repairs. We can’t just pay our way through our daily service for Christ. It takes us rolling up our sleeves and getting down to the nitty gritty.
How is your walk with the Lord?
Have you become idle in your devotion with Him?
Have you let slothfulness for His House and His work creep in?
Repair your House.
Commit to reading your Bible everyday. Start small. Read a chapter in Psalms or Proverbs.
Set aside a time of prayer. Think of all the things you’re thankful for, then ask the Lord to fill you and use you. Pray for your loved ones, ask for needs. Praise Him.
Be faithful. In every area. Church, your home, your spouse, your care for your children.
Get busy in the House of God, always be ready to serve no matter how small or how big!
No one likes to see an old, run down house, it makes us think of what “used” to be. Let’s all be busy maintaining our “Houses” for the now and not be a used to be!!!