Father, help us to keep focused on you
God truly is wonderful. He has given us everything we need and lots of things we don't really need as well. We don't have to work all the hours of daylight just to bring in our food and provide clothes to keep us warm. The time we live in offers us such a vast range of activities to fill up our spare time.
There's two issues here;
The second involves working out just how this activity would affect our lives. Would it interfere with our life in Christ?
Paul uses the concept of games to illustrate a point about how we should 'strive' towards Christ and how we should work hard and not give up. (Remember from last week?)
I'm not 100% sure why gambling was singled out in the title. I can't find any Biblical references to gambling either. I've never gambled, as I simply don't have the money to waste, let alone not being interested in it. But I'm sure there are other activities which may displease God more.
Way back in one of the earlier study notes I defined sin as anything which takes us away from God. We have to make sure what we do in our spare time does not fall into this category. Time is a resource. Just as God has given us food and shelter, he has also given us time. People often say 'time is money' and it's true!
Jesus gave a parable about a lord who gave his servants some money. Some used it wisely, but one hid his talent in the ground. He didn't want to use it at all. It might have been that he was frightened to use it, or frightened to lose it. But either way he must have wasted the time he was given. The others went out and gained more, but he didn't. We have to make sure we're using the resources God has given us, so when Jesus does return we can say what we've achieved. It may not be much. Some people help others without realising it.
God has given us time for pleasure, and in fact will give us even more if we please him and once Jesus Christ has returned. So we have much to be thankful for.