Scripture takes a dim view of a slack hand. “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: But the hand of the diligent maketh rich” (Prov. 10:4).
This applies to all of us—men and women, boy and girls. It applies to every station of life—job holder, housekeeper, or student. One of the plain indicators that the Spirit of God is at work is that He creates a work ethic in His people. So let us be honest with one another, and brutally honest with ourselves. Where are we being lazy?
We need to be careful about this because lazy people have trained themselves to be impervious to exhortations such as this, and they sally forth in a panoply of excuses. And those who know how to work—which would be the vast majority of you—take exhortations like this to heart, and resolve to work even harder than you do. But I am speaking here to the handful of you who need to repent of sloth.
Some of you who are adept with a slack hand are also adept in the arts of manipulation. There are people near you who are not allergic to work the same way you are, and you can maneuver them into carrying part of your job for you. But never forget this—God sees it. He is dealing with it. In fact, He is dealing with it right now. So I am also speaking to the hard workers who make the terrible mistake of subsidizing sloth in others.
In this, let us not have false ideals of a pristine state. There is a kind of chaos caused by industry: “Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: But much increase is by the strength of the ox” (Prov. 14:4). But there is also the chaos of sloth: “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, And nettles had covered the face thereof, And the stone wall thereof was broken down” (Prov. 24:30-31). So if you are a sluggard, pray for light. You don’t want to be a sluggard, and be the last one to know.
I completely agree, Pastor Wilson. This is also easier to do in a nation as insanely wealthy as ours. It means there are generally more hard workers around onto whom we may scruff our work. There are also many ways of looking busy and hard at work, when you are not in fact doing anything but wasting time. But we must also be careful not to use a person’s wealth to judge their work ethic and/or righteousness. I know many hard working poor and lower middle class (I live with them, and am one myself). Most educated speculation would Jesus… Read more »
I very much appreciated this part ” Some of you who are adept with a slack hand are also adept in the arts of manipulation. There are people near you who are not allergic to work the same way you are, and you can maneuver them into carrying part of your job for you. But never forget this—God sees it. He is dealing with it. In fact, He is dealing with it right now. So I am also speaking to the hard workers who make the terrible mistake ofsubsidizing sloth in others.” since I have been dealing with Christians that look upon… Read more »
So, Kimberley, how would you pay for university without federal financial support? Do you honestly thing you could save around 50k before school? I am not asking how you want the country to be. I am asking about the country that you live in in 2014.
Robert – easy answer: DON’T GO!
Why in a “free country” would we want to turn over the education of our kids to the state??