The Deadly Sin of Sloth
Jeremiah 48:10
“Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully...”
In this passage of Scripture before us the Chaldeans were to destroy the Moabites, which is called the work of the Lord, because God had commission them to do so. It was not to be done partially or in a careless and negligent manner, but they were to fully and faithfully carry out their orders. They were not to be like King Saul when he spared the Amalekites, and Ahab Benhadad. This verse clearly stated the “work of the Lord was not to be done negligently, with slackness. It was to be carried out to the letter with fervency and zeal. This is a general rule, which may be applied to any work and/or service that God has given to you and me. Failure to do so is disastrous to the believer. Failure to do so is to be guilty of the sin of sloth. - adadpted
I. Characteristics of sloths
A. Sloths move only when necessary and even then very slowly. Sloths are extremely slow-moving mammals. Actually they are world's slowest mammal, so sedentary that algae grow on its furry coat. Travel at 0.15 mph just ahead of the garden snail. Just because sloths usually move slowly, doesn't mean they're physically limited to a snail's pace. It’s their nature.
B. Sloths are very still for most of the day. Part of the reason is self preservation. Donald E. Moore, associate director of animal care at Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D. summed up the sloth mission statement as "Avoid being eaten by eagles." He went on to say “There's no real defense against something that's willing to dive bomb a tree, flip upside down and grab you off a vine. You're really better off if they just don't see you."
C. Infant sloths normally cling to their mothers' fur, but occasionally fall off. Sloths, however, are very sturdily built and rarely die from a fall. Some die not from the fall but because the mothers prove unwilling to leave the safety of the trees to retrieve the young.
II. Characteristics of a Slothful Person
A. Procrastinates
1. Proverbs 20:4 “The sluggard (slothful person) will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.”
2. He procrastinates always postponing making a decision for salvation or service, getting involved in church or sowing the seeds of the Gospel to the lost.
3. Acts 24:25 “And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.”
4. Many pass lazily through life with little if any commitment to serving Christ.
B. Makes excuses
1. Proverbs 22:13 “The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.”
2. Luke 14:16 – 24 “Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”
3. "He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else." – Benjamin Franklin
C. Wastes both his time and talents
1. Proverbs 18:9 “He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.”
2. W.C. Fields had a great desire to keep his wealth a secret, so he reportedly tucked his money away in over 200 different bank accounts all across the United States and Europe. Fearing someone would find him out, he opened each account under an assumed name! When Fields died, the executors of his estate encountered an overwhelming nightmare! Ultimately they were able to track down only 45 of Fields' bank accounts. It is estimated that well over half a million dollars was never found. In the end, then, W.C. Fields' great wealth was largely wasted, all because he insisted upon hiding it away. YOU are wealthy. Your talents, skills, and abilities are intangible forms of great wealth. So, what are you doing with your wealth? Are you investing it wisely by sharing your talents with others? Or are you hiding it away, rationalizing, "I'll use it SOMEDAY"? –"The Speaker's Sourcebook 2" (Prentice-Hall), pp. 6-7.
D. Deceives himself into thinking He’s OK.
1. Proverbs 26:16 “The sluggard (slothful) is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.”
2. Revelation 3:17 “...thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
3. For fifteen years Jim Fixx, author of the 1978 bestseller, The Complete Book of Running, ran eighty miles a week. He appeared to be in tip-top shape. It didn't seem possible that a man his age could be in better condition. Yet at age fifty-two Fixx died of a massive heart attack while running alone on a Vermont road. His wife, Alice, later said she was certain that Fixx had no idea he suffered from a heart problem. Why? Because he refused to get regular checkups.
III. The Danger of Sloth
A. Sloth generates spiritual slumber
1. Proverbs 6:9-11 "How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard (slothful)? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travels, and thy want as an armed man."
2. Spiritual slumber is indifference and insensitivity to spiritual things. When Christ returns He will find many in the church slothful, in a spiritual state of slumber and indifferent to their own salvation and spiritual things
B. Sloth generates spiritual weakness
1. “With sloth our apathy causes our muscles to atrophy – we’ve become so weak that we are unable to get off the couch and follow him.” – Rooted & Radical
2. Proverbs 13:4 “The soul of the sluggard (slothful) desires, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.”
3. Just as we need physical food we need God’s spiritual food. When we do not eat, our body begins to feel weak, and we know immediately that we need to eat some food. When we fail to commit ourselves through God's Word which provides strength and fail to exercise through the use of our spiritual gifts within the church, we become spiritually weak and fail to grow.
4. It is possible to miss a meal and not feel any ill effects-- but if you go without food for a week, you will weaken and eventually run out of energy. So it is with prayer and spiritual disciplines. You may very well be able to skip a day of prayer and Bible study without noticing any ill effects but if you continue this practice, you will become undernourished, losing the strength for victorious living. - Bill Bright
5. Seven days without prayer and God’s Word makes one weak.
C. Sloth destroys spiritual appetite
1. Proverbs 26:15 YLT “The slothful hath hid his hand in a dish, He is weary of bringing it back to his mouth.”
2. One of the problems of sloth is that longer one neglects God and His work the easier it becomes to vegetate in that spiritual slumber.
3. One of the incidents of the great Chinese famine of 1906-1907, was a visit I made to the refugee camp outside the walls of Chinkiang. Mrs. Paxton was taking simple medicine to the suffers; and as we made the rounds of the miserable straw mat shelters, within which the starving people hungered on the cold ground, she turned to me with a startled expression and said, "Do you know what most of them are saying? They complain of lack of appetite." These famine victims were not hungry - because they were starving. They had passed the stage of desire for food. That picture portrays many a soul's state that has lost interest in or longing for spiritual satisfactions because it is starving. - Christian Herald
D. Sloth brings spiritual destruction
1. Proverbs 21:25 “The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. All day long he craves for more…”
2. A Southampton University found that people who usually sleep 12 hours or more per night have a greater risk of death than those who sleep eight hours per night. – Home Life, 7/1999, p. 10.
3. Proverbs 18:9 “One who is slack in his work is brother to the one who destroys.”
4. Psalms 28:5 “Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.”
IV. Cure for Sloth
A. Examine your life and conscience
1. Lamentations 3:40 ESV “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD.”
2. Psalms 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:”
B. Commit yourself to be faithful to your duties
1. Hebrews 6:12 "That you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."
2. Proverbs 16:3 “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.”
C. Enlist God’s help
1. Psalms 34:10 “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”
2. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
