What kinds of leisure are unnecessary and may be harmful?

Psalm 73:12Look at these wicked people—enjoying a life of ease while their riches multiply.

2 Thessalonians 3:6We give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us.

While times of rest and leisure are necessary, God doesn’t want our lives to be focused on pursuing it.

Proverbs 12:11A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.

Leisure that overshadows our work becomes a foolish distraction.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-3I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?” After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.

Isaiah 47:8“Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom, living at ease and feeling secure. You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other. I will never be a widow or lose my children.’”

Galatians 5:19-24When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Those who belong to Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

1 Timothy 5:6The widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while she lives.

Leisure, rest, and pleasure are good at the right time and used in the right way. Making them the center of our lives is foolish and self-destructive.