The number of victims it has claimed is incalculable. Few can resist its hypnotic appeal. It leaves its targets with a heavier heart and a lighter wallet. Worst of all, most of its captives never learn their lesson, succumbing again and again to its seductions despite swearing to never surrender. It has made a fool of me and has likely done the same to you: the checkout lane. 

That’s where all the junk is—candy bars, chips, soda, and other enticing empty calories that need no advertisement. And distributors have conveniently and cleverly placed such delectable treats there because they know you are stuck with nothing to do but wait in line—and look. You grab what you need and go your way in the rest of the store, but movement stops at the checkout lane. Temptation lies within arm’s reach, and before long, a chocolate bar or some other I’ll-never-buy-this-again item slithers into your shopping cart. Idleness plus temptation equals another pointless purchase, and another disappointed victim.

Doing nothing is dangerous, especially in the Christian life. Idleness presents believers with an opportunity to “check out” what sin has to offer. Inactivity leads to sin-activity. When movement stops, temptation starts. Just ask David—the Scripture says that he “tarried in Jerusalem,” dilly-dallying when he should have been at war until his eyes wandered toward a bathing Bathsheba, and the rest is shameful history (cf. 2 Sam. 11).

This is why the Bible speaks so strongly about idleness and spiritual neglect. Solomon cautioned that doing nothing to maintain your house will result in its deterioration, and neglecting to care for your soul will lead to its decline (Eccl. 10:18). He similarly taught that an idle person’s life will be overrun with evil, just as a vineyard becomes overgrown due to negligence from a lazy gardener (Prov. 24:30-34). Paul also asserted that failing to be busy doing the Lord’s work results in being busy doing the devil’s work (2 Thess. 3:11). The Scripture even teaches that an “abundance of idleness” was one of the greatest iniquities of Sodom (Ezek. 16:49).

But you can vanquish idleness the same way you overcome temptation in the checkout lane: be vigilant, look away, and keep on moving. Believers must watch themselves and watch out for the devil’s wiles (Gen. 4:7; Gal. 6:1; 1 Peter 5:8). Christians must also be “always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58b), remaining occupied with serving Christ, praying often, reading Scripture, and participating in the local church. The great Puritan Isaac Ambrose wisely warned, “As a standing pool grows filthy of itself and full of toads and vermin, so the heart that is not engaged in something good and useful is a fit place for the devil to breed evil thoughts and filthy passions in.” Save yourself some money and be watchful in the checkout lane. And save yourself some regret by resisting the subtle danger of idleness.

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