Does Busyness Define You?

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What do you think is the most destructive addiction currently in the world? Many would speak of drug or alcohol addiction, and yes, it is deadly. However, have you considered the devastating impact of busyness?

Babylon (the world system) has successfully shifted our thinking to the point that we now identify who we are by what we do. Conformity for the sake of productivity has been ingrained in us all since Kindergarten. You need to make good grades (Conform), go to college (Get Enslaved to Debt), pick your career path (slave trade) because you are what you do.

This same pattern is found in the Book of Daniel when three Hebrew boys, along with Daniel, were brought out of Israel into Babylonian captivity to serve the King. These young men were considered some of the best and brilliant in their generation. One of the first things the Babylonian culture did to reinforce their captivity was changing their names.

Let’s look at how powerful being re-identified can be.

Daniel means God is My Judge but was renamed Belteshazzar, which is Lord of the Straightened Treasure.

Hananiah means God has favored but was renamed Shadrach, which is the great scribe.

Mishael means who is what God is but was renamed Meshach, which means the guest of the King.

Azariah means Jehovah has helped but was renamed Abednego, which means servant of Nebo.

Notice that in each change God is removed and their job becomes their name. Babylon knows that the only way they can enslave you to the altar of productivity is to make you forget your God-given identity. It’s even in our everyday conversation of meeting people. One of the first questions we ask new people is, “So what do you do?”

Slavemasters of this world’s system are greedy for more and strive daily to convince you and me that busyness is a virtue. The American dream says hard work guarantees promotion. However, that obsession for the ladder of success has caused us to become addicted to material success and the exhaustive striving required to achieve it.

Generations before us bought the lie of work as their identity that now many value their job over the God-given responsibility to parent. Babylon knows the value of a father’s presence at home, so they sold men on the lie of “how to get ahead” to the point that it has successfully removed the head out of many homes. Our values need a radical adjustment.

If you are a reader, it will not take long for you to recognize that when reading about significant figures that represent this elite business culture, they leave behind them a trail of divorces, bad relationships, and children who were raised without a parental connection. How could this culture of busyness be seen as a virtue when it causes us to devalue those things that are most important to Yahweh’s design for us, family.

Have you allowed the addiction of busyness to redefine you?

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2 Comments

  1. Laurent Fidrych on April 18, 2020 at 7:39 AM

    Dear Mark, the article was a pure revelation from the Father, eye opening and should distinguish ourselves that though we are in this world our attitude and character should built-in at the feet of Jesus. You are a blessing to me and love what the Father is doing in Covington.

  2. […] P.S. I wrote another article for those who find themselves bound to busyness, click here to check it out: https://markcastoministries.com/does-busyness-define-you/ […]

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