Hank Smith: 00:03 Hello everyone. Welcome to FollowHIM Favorites. This is where John and I are sharing a single story to go with each week’s lesson. John, we’re in sections 41 through 44 today, and you’ve told me to come to Section 42 because you have a story.

John Bytheway: 00:14 There’s a phrase in here. Thou shalt not be idle. He that is idle shall not eat the bread, nor wear the garments of the labor. But that idea of being idle, what does that mean exactly? Well, soon after my wife and I were married, Hank, we had a couple of kids who kind of outgrew our car, got a Toyota 4runner, we wanted to name it Elias. We thought that’d be funny if people went, oh, Elias was a 4runner. We wanted a license plate that said Elias. Somebody had already had the idea and had taken it. Have you ever been at Parleys Canyon before Hank?

Hank Smith: 00:45 I have.

John Bytheway: 00:45 Kind of a grade that you have to go up. We put it on cruise control. You know, it’s 65 or whatever, but it just wouldn’t make it. It was what people sometimes say, this car’s gutless. You know, it doesn’t have enough power. Just, yeah. And so it would, yeah. And then, okay, Hank, you know, my son Matthew, it’s time to have another, and we thought we need a minivan, and Kim wanted to postpone the evil minivan day as long as possible right? But we went and we got a Honda Odyssey to test drive it. Went up Parley Canyon with my wife. What is this gonna be like? I wonder if this will make it on cruise. Went right up Parley Summit without coming out of cruise control. I thought it was so awesome when we got up there. Finally, we stopped at a stoplight. Both had this impression, what’s the word we use when an engine is running, but it’s not delivering any power.

Hank Smith: 01:38 That’s idle. Right?

John Bytheway: 01:39 It’s idling. Yeah, and it was this great scriptural connection that we made. We had just come over Parley Summit, and we both started talking about, whoa, those scriptures, thou shalt not be idle. We came up with our own definition for being idle, tremendous potential, doing nothing.

Hank Smith: 02:01 Mm.

John Bytheway: 02:01 It was this engine just sitting there doing nothing. I knew that that was the term for an engine that was running before I knew it was a scriptural term to not be idle. Thou shalt kind of sounds like a commandment, doesn’t it Hank?

Hank Smith: 02:16 Right. Thou shalt not be idle. You can see the Lord saying, you’re amazing. You’re the Honda Odyssey. What are you doing sitting there?

John Bytheway: 02:24 Yeah. You have this tremendous power and potential, and you’re sitting there doing nothing. Thou shalt not be idle. That’s what my Honda Odyssey taught me Hank.

Hank Smith: 02:34 Right? I love it. I think there’s an old saying that says, the idle mind is the devil’s playground.

John Bytheway: 02:39 People get in trouble when they have nothing to do. Right?

Hank Smith: 02:42 Just be too tired to sin when Satan says, Hey, come over here and sin. You’re like, I would, but I,

John Bytheway: 02:47 I’m too worn out. I’ve been busy all day.

Hank Smith: 02:49 I’m exhausted.

John Bytheway: 02:50 I love it.

Hank Smith: 02:51 We hope you’ll join us on our full podcast. It’s called FollowHIM. You can get it wherever you get your podcast. We are with Dr. Ken Alford this week. You’re going to love what he does with these sections. He is so good and so smart and so loving. You’re going to love it. Then come back here next week. We’ll do another FollowHIM Favorites.