Proverbs work and laziness
Turn with me this morning please to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 6. Proverbs chapter 6, and in a few minutes we will begin in verse 9. Proverbs chapter 6 and beginning in verse 9.
The week before last, Gladys and I went to California, and got to meet Drew’s future in-laws, who are very good and gracious people. We went out to meet them, and we went out because they were having a bridal shower. Thankfully, Drew and I didn’t have to attend that.
It was my and Gladys’ first time in California, so we got to do a little sightseeing. I say a little. Honestly, everything out there was new to us, except the livestock judging show we got to attend. Due to 4-H, that was familiar. Also, with everything going on with my mom, honestly, it was good to get away and rest a little bit. We went to bed early and slept late.
Can I tell you the truth? After several days of that I was going stir crazy. Finally, by the end of the week, Drew’s future father-in-law, I believe reluctantly, agreed to let me do some bush hogging. I needed to do something. All of that down time was about to get me.
It reminded me of when Gladys and I got COVID and were stuck at the house for a while. We really didn’t have the strength or energy to do much, but after a day or so of sitting on the couch and watching TV I was over it.
Why is that? It’s not because I’m weird. It’s not because I’m a workaholic. It’s because God never designed, created, or planned for us to do nothing.
From the beginning God planned for us to be busy doing something. Even before the fall, God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and told them to tend the garden. He had a job for them.
In 1 Corinthians 6:3, Paul tells the Christians in Corinth that one day Christians will judge angels. Work in heaven.
In the parable of the talents Jesus tells us that those are the most obedient, will be given even more to do in the future.
No where in all of creation, from the Garden of Eden to Heaven in the future does it ever say that God created us to sit around and do nothing.
A day of rest, Yes! Perpetual inactivity? No! Don’t run out your life with no meaning., no purpose, failing to advance the kingdom of God.
If you will excuse me for the reference, the day before my mother went to the hospital coughing up blood and unable to breath, she was in south Florida teaching folks how to do the office work for Florida Baptist Disaster Relief. Don’t you dare tell me there’s nothing you can do. Don’t you dare tell me there’s nothing for you to do.
We live in a day and age when people are trying everything in the world to fill their hours and to pass the time, because they are bored. I had a former chairman of deacons, and a friend, tell me, if someone is bored it’s because they’re lazy. I believe that’s true.
God created us with a purpose, with a mission.
> 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Can you tell me that what you are spending your time doing is bringing glory to God?
Work is not a curse. Work is a privilege, a challenge to laziness, an answer to boredom, a place to invest one’s energy, and a way to provide for one’s physical needs.
Throughout the Bible we are encouraged to be people of diligence, committed to the tasks in life that need to be accomplished. Some however, do not consider this a privilege, but a drag.
In Proverbs, Solomon refers to these people as sluggards. They are people who have the ability to work, but refuses to. He lacks the drive, personal responsibility, and common sense to provide for his needs. He loves sleep and dislikes work. Our country has a growing percentage of our population who fit this description. Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 3:10;
> 2 Thessalonians 3:10 The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat”.
There are number of characteristics many sluggards have in common.
In Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 9 we find one of these characteristics.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A SLUGGARD
1. A Sluggard has trouble getting started
- Read Proverbs 6:9-11
First, a sluggard has trouble getting started. He has great plans, he has great hopes, he has great dreams, but he just has trouble getting started. He can never seem to get things in gear.
Listen, one of the greatest destroyers of dreams is tomorrow. Tomorrow I’m going to stop this. Tomorrow I’m going to start this project or that project.
Alexander Graham Bell said, The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action.” It is the ability to get started.
He was going to be all that a mortal should be
Tomorrow.
No one should be kinder or braver than he
Tomorrow.
A friend who was troubled and weary he knew,
Who'd be glad of a lift and who needed it, too;
On him he would call and see what he could do
Tomorrow.
Each morning he stacked up the letters he'd write
Tomorrow.
And thought of the folks he would fill with delight
Tomorrow.
It was too bad, indeed, he was busy today,
And hadn't a minute to stop on his way;
More time he would have to give others, he'd say
Tomorrow.
The greatest of workers this man would have been
Tomorrow.
The world would have known him, had he ever seen
Tomorrow.
But the fact is he died and he faded from view,
And all that he left here when living was through
Was a mountain of things he intended to do
Tomorrow. - Edgar Albert Guest
A sluggard has trouble getting started.
2. A sluggard is restless
- Read Proverbs 13:4
> Proverbs 21:25-26 The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.
A sluggard may be smart. He may be talented. He may be able to talk and dream, but the discipline of work, of pursuing those dreams is missing. He dreams and plans and lots all day long, but little gets accomplished so he is restless.
3. A sluggard pulls others down.
- Read Proverbs 18:9
You may notice a letter beside that last word, vandal. There in the margin you will see that the word literally means the sluggard, the lazy person is a master of destruction.
A lazy employee can destroy the motivation of the other employees in that company. Why should I work and strive and produce when such and such stands around all day. My word, you have a lazy boss, tell me that won’t destroy the heart of a company. Why should I work and strive for this company when the boss takes long lunches everyday, when he takes long breaks.
A lazy player doesn’t just weaken the team, he destroys its spirit, its will to win.
A sluggard pulls others down.
4. The sluggard is usually defensive
- Read Proverbs 26:16
Can’t you hear that lazy person explain why something can’t be done.
You can hear that lazy person can pontificate, and explain why everyone else has succeeded, but he hasn’t gotten the breaks, or someone hasn’t had the obstacles to overcome that he has.
Oh, I haven’t succeeded, but there’s a reason I haven’t.
The next one goes hand-in-hand with this one. Look there at Proverbs 26:13-15
- Read Proverbs 26:13-15
5. A sluggard has excuses
I can’t go and do that, there’s a lion in the street. Or there’s a bear, or that’s the government’s responsibility.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”
A sluggard, a lazy person, has trouble getting started, he is restless, he pulls others down, he is usually defensive, and he comes complete with excuses.
Sadly, some of this appears to be generational, and it appears to be increasing. I remember talking with a church member at a former church who told me one of his first jobs was hoeing cotton. He even showed me the field he started in. He said one day he stopped in the middle of a row and walked down the field to get a drink of water. The boss saw him and explained that he could stop and get a drink when he was at the end of the row nearest the water.
My how things have changed.
In a recent survey published by Inc. Magazine, 36% of millennials admit to spending two hours or more on their smartphones tending to personal matters, on the job each day, almost 10 hours per week stolen from their employers. 1
What was once held in the highest esteem-the value of an hones day’s wage for an honest day’s work-has been hijacked by the intrusions of the digital age.
Fortunately, Proverbs is a book of contrasts. Not only does Solomon give us the negative, the portrait of the lazy person, but he also paints us a picture of the diligent person. The one giving an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. A portrait of the one completing his God-given assignment.
II. GOD’S VIEW OF WORK
1. Work is God’s means of provision
- Proverbs 12:11
Work is God’s intended way of providing for you and I. It was His intention that we work for what we get.
Yesterday I was watching the news, and a man was talking about working in San Francisco. He said he watched the population of homeless people go through their daily cycle. He sid, they would get up, then they would get their drugs, they would turn into zombies, but through it all the government delivered 3 hot meals a day to the folks, along with cell phones.
A while back I saw an interview with a young man who was heading out to surf. In the interview he admitted that he didn’t work, but that he was living on food stamps. He spent all of his time surfing.
God never intended us to live on the labors of others, but rather intended that we work, we labor to support ourselves.
2. Work is a way to worship
> Proverbs 16:3 Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
Everything we do is to be an extension of our relationship with the Lord.
> Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,
I recently read of a lady who has a sign over her kitchen sink which says, “Worship performed here 3 times a day.”
My word, when you are working you are expressing worship to God, and the way you work reflects how well you know God.
You don’t just worship God here. You worship God everyday in the place you work and in the way you work. Some of David’s most powerful worship was when he was on a hillside taking care of his father’s sheep.
And don’t you think there’s God-honoring worship going on when a mom or grandparent is rocking that young baby and singing Christian songs to them?
Brother Gene, you don’t know the environment I work in. You don’t know what these people are like. Daniel worked with people who wanted to kill him because he lived a different lifestyle. Sadrack, Meshack, and Abednigo were thrown into a furnace by their employer because they lived differently.
But brother Gene, it’s easier where you are. You don’t know what it’s like working around the ungodly, foul-mouthed people I work with. I want to work in a Christian environment.
Do you remember what I do on the side? I work with roofers.
A number of years ago, Gladys’ brother and sister-in-law were putting on an addition to their house. I went up and dried it in. When I was there, there were some guys also working there who were installing Don’s air conditioning system. They said, “So you’re a roofer?” I answered, “Yes.” “And you’re a preacher.” Again I answered, “Yes.” They said, “Never seen one of those before.”
This industry is not known for having a lot of preachers in it.
Wherever God has placed you, He has placed you for a reason, and how you work in your situation, how you work in your environment can be an act of worship.
> Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.
“Those words convey an incredible truth if we can receive it. You may have human bosses, but ultimately, you don’t work for the party checking your time sheets or signing your checks. Your employer is a loving, eternal, benevolent Father who wants you to carry His love into the world through your assignment. How you work, then, shows how much you think of the assignment He’s given you, and consequently, how much you think of Him.
Working as if it’s a form of worship can change the way you think about your occupation. It can change the way you think about your bosses, your customers and your coworkers. By seeing them as potential recipients of God’s love, as witnesses to your worship, you’ll begin to understand how you’ve been placed in their lives for a particular reason and season. If you’ll live into that understanding, you’ll notice changes in your daily interactions. You’ll begin to see people at work as people to love, instead of obstacles to navigate through.”
Work is not a new four-letter word. It’s an opportunity to worship and to share the good news of God with the world around us. So let’s not complain about our bosses, our coworkers, or the people we serve. Let’s not be distractible, half-productive workers either. Let’s be responsive to the assignments given to us, working a hard as we can to make the most of the opportunities we have before us.
Speaking of which, number 3, work is also a way to witness.
3. Work is a way to witness
> Proverbs 22:29 Do you see a person skilled in his work??He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of the unknown.
When you are good at what you do, and when you do a good job, people are going to notice. And that notice that recognition can be attribute to your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
> 2 Corinthians 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
The Bible says that we are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. How we work is a reflection on the God we serve,
> Ephesians 6:5-8 Slaves, obey your human[c] masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing God’s will from your heart. Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people, knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.
When you work differently than others. When you refuse to talk about the boos behind his back like others do. When you refuse to goof off, like others do. When you don’t stretch your break times or your lunch, and you return on time, you think people don’t notice?
Sure they do, and the way you work is a reflection of the God you claim to serve. If He can make you different, then perhaps He can help them and make them different too!
Bob Harrington, the chaplain of Bourbon Street, tells the story of a man who went in to his preacher’s office one day. The man asked, “Don’t you hear about the accident down at the plant? His pastor answered, “Yes!” The man continued, “I was there.” It was terrible.
There was an accident and molten metal was spilled on a man. The man started screaming, “Somebody help me. Someone help me!” He said, “People tried one thing then another to try to put him out, to try to cool him off. They tried sand, a fire extinguisher, etc.:
The man finally yelled, “I’m dying. I know that. You can’t stop it. Will someone tell me about Jesus. Will someone tell me how to be saved.”
The man confessed to his pastor, “and we just watched him die.”
The pastor said to his member, “Jim, why didn’t you tell him about Jesus? Why didn’t you tell him how to be saved? You’ve been a faithful member here for years. You’re a leader in the church. Why in the world didn’t you tell him about Jesus?”
The man answered, “Because the life I had lived in front of that man for years, shut my mouth to him when he needed me most.”
My friend, dear sir. Dear ma’am, young person. Your work can either be a witness, or it will destroy your witness.
In John 9:4 Jesus says,
> John 9:4 We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.
My friend, God has given us all assignments. He has given us all things to do. These things can provide for us, they can be done as worship and our labors can be a witness to others. But, our time is limited. Our opportunities are limited. Let’s make the most of the time and the opportunities the Lord has given us.
* Intentional Faith, by Allen Jackson. Nelson Books, 2020 p 85.
