What does it mean, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop?”<\/p>\n\t
There is a set of English proverbs that are worded similarly:<\/p>\n
There are many variations, but they all follow the same theme: A person who doesn’t have something particular to occupy himself with doing will be tempted to occupy himself with sin. The phrasing is not found in the Bible, but like many “chimney corner scriptures,” it has its roots in a scriptural idea.<\/p>\n
Idleness means you have no particular goal in mind, and, thus, you can be easily distracted. A warning is given about supporting young widows from the church’s funds because it leaves the woman with little to do. “And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not<\/em>” (I Timothy 5:13). For this same cause, all Christians are commanded to work. “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread<\/em>” (II Thessalonians 3:10-12).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: What does it mean, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop?” Answer: There is a set of English proverbs that are worded similarly: Idle hands are the devil’s workshop Idle hands are the devil’s tools (“Collections” 1808) Idle brains are the devil’s workhouses (T. Fuller 1732) An idle brain is the devil’s workshop (H.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[807,806,386],"class_list":["post-5931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-chimney-corner-scriptures","tag-idleness","tag-laziness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7987,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-a-passage-similar-to-an-idle-mind-is-the-devils-workplace\/","url_meta":{"origin":5931,"position":0},"title":"Is there a passage similar to “an idle mind is the devil’s workplace?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am looking for a phrase in the Bible that is similar to the saying, \"An idle mind is the devil's workplace.\" Answer: In warning churches not to support young widows, Paul stated, \"And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27110,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/chimney-corner-scriptures\/","url_meta":{"origin":5931,"position":1},"title":"Chimney Corner Scriptures","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"sent by Vince Limburg There are many phrases in our language that we just \"know\" are in the Bible, but when we look they aren't there. Which of the following are from the Bible and which are just a chimney-corner scripture? By the skin of my teeth All men are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60780,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-hands-that-hang-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":5931,"position":2},"title":"The Hands That Hang Down","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton They were beaten down. Their possessions were plundered, and family and friends were speaking evil of them. They were Christians on the verge of quitting. But, Paul wanted to remind them of the superiority and greatness of Christ, so he penned Hebrews with word pictures that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/despondent-106x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33246,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-the-most-asked-questions-by-people\/","url_meta":{"origin":5931,"position":3},"title":"What are the most asked questions by people?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am doing a class about questions people might have. What are some of the most asked questions Christians and non-Christians have? I tried thinking of the top ten questions, but I tried googling and found a lot of pointless stuff for questions, but I didn't think they would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26995,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-idle-talk-and-idle-babblings\/","url_meta":{"origin":5931,"position":4},"title":"What is “idle talk” and “idle babblings?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read this\u00a0 answer a question: \"What does \"vain thoughts\" mean in Psalm 119:113?\"\u00a0Could you expand more on the subject for me? I like to have an imagination and to read fiction. I want to be more sure that it is not a sin. Also what about exactly is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19803,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-an-idle-word\/","url_meta":{"origin":5931,"position":5},"title":"What is an “idle” word?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Matthew 12:36, what does Christ mean when he says, \"For every idle word ... [man] shall give an account\"?\u00a0 What is an \"idle word\"?\u00a0 Does \"give an account\" mean \"suffer punishment\" or \"be required to explain\"? Answer: \"Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5931\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}