Free Time

The Lord has allowed me enjoy several days off in a row from being at the Boys Home. One reason for this is because I had to drive Ryan to Tennessee. Ryan will be visiting other family members for the next six weeks. This time of year is always very tough on my wife. The other family that Ryan has is not saved and doesn't believe the Bible. So, therefore their ethics and morals are quite different than the training that we are giving Ryan. During this time Kim and I reflect on all the mes ups we have made with training our children. All we can do now for the time being is pray for him that the Lord will have some grace and mercy, deal with Ryan's heart and convict him about the things that will come up while he is away from Church, the Bible, and home.

So, I have had some time off. Some "Free Time" as we call it at the Boys Home. I am very thankful to have it, considering the month before had left very little "Free Time" for anyone. Having SOME free time is a good thing. The last few days I have been able to do a few errands and some things around the house that I probably wouldn't have gotten done otherwise.

The Lord knows what it means to have some "Free Time". Mark 6:31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. I am fairly certain that none of the Apostles were by any means lazy. I have not know commercial fishermen to be of the lazy sort, but the Lord Jesus Christ knew when his men needed some rest. The Bible also says, in Psalm 127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. After God recreated the earth he rested on the seventh day (Gen. 2:1-3).

Too much "Free Time" is not good though. That is when you get into trouble. From what I have noticed recently, the boys that come into the Boys Home are in the trouble that they are in because (among other things) they have way too much "Free Time". If a teenager is taking drugs and abusing the use of them, he is doing it on his "Free Time". If an American teenager is getting into any major trouble a lot of the time he will be getting into that trouble during his "Free Time". Taking my own life as an example, I can say that the average American teenager has at least six hours of "Free Time" every Monday through Friday, and double (if not triple) that on the weekends. That is a bunch of "Free Time". If that teenager doesn't have any parents that will put some work ethic into him during those hours, that teenager will end up just like all that rest of the American teenage punks that are roaming our streets today.

The last few times that my pastor, Bro. Buddy has preached, he has mentioned something about "Free Time". At one point he directed a question to the staff at the Boys Home and asked, something to the affect of, "What are you doing during your free time?" Yesterday and today I have caught my self falling into the dangers of "Free Time". Sleeping in later than what I should, and giving my self to things that are of no profit and vanity are dangers in my "Free Time". Don't let your "Free Time" go unchecked or it will turn into "wasted time" and "flesh time".