WHAT TO DO WHEN THERE IS NOTHING TO DO!

One of my favorite books as a boy was a green-covered volume called What To Do When There Is Nothing to Do. During those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, when we finally finished the Monopoly game after breaking the bank, I could grab that book and explore imaginative vistas through previously unexplored territory. Word games, building projects, science experiments, physical challenges, magic tricks and an infinite variety of other boredom-busters awaited me within its pages. I often wished that my forays into Bible study could be accompanied by a similar volume. Knowing God’s Word became an ambition through the years, aided by time in Bible college and Seminary. I read and studied, taught and preached. But I didn’t always find myself DOING. Too often, KNOWING became an end game rather than a preparation for participation. Living for God depreciated into a satisfaction with personal devotions, attending church, and planning the next men’s outing. So, I decided to write my own What to Do When There Is Nothing to Do. The project quickly accelerated into five volumes. I knew it was important as a believer to TREASURE GOD. But what could a person who treasured God do? Fifty-two chapters later, I accumulated more than one hundred and seventy-five practical actions through which I could put into practice what it means to treasure God. I recognized from Scripture that I needed to be TRANSFORMED BY GOD. But what would the transformed life accomplish? Could it be reduced to the old quip, “I don’t smoke, and I don’t chew, and I don’t go with girls who do?” Fifty-two reflections on how God wanted to transform my life produced two hundred and thirty-eight possible ways in which godly change could produce results in everyday living. SERVING GOD has always been a focus of ministry. But I knew many believers who would never sing in the choir or even muster up the courage to give a public testimony. They were some of those who had convinced themselves there was nothing to do, or at least, nothing they could do for God. Fifty-two observations concerning Christian service expanded into two hundred and fifty-eight acts of service which those with nothing to do could accomplish. The Bible-action orientation of my What to Do When There Is Nothing to Do imitation, led to a fourth book encouraging people to be CREATIVE LIKE GOD. Here the fifty-two chapters include three hundred and nine DARES to explore creative endeavors in honor of a creative God. The five volume devotionals collectively became DARE TO WALK ON WATER. The Workbook expands personal Bible study into practical action by encouraging KNOWERS of the Word to become DOERS of the Word through their own application of truth to their lives. So next time you set aside your phone and ask yourself what there is to do after Facebook, grab Dare to Walk on Water and explore more than nine hundred things to do when there’s nothing to do. The first book in the series will be available in April.

Robert Allen
The Bible Story Family
P. O. Box 28342
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55428-3551