- Proverbs 24:31-34
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- Prov 24:31 (KJB)
- And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had
covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
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- Solomon then reports back that what he saw in the field of the lazy man
which was total neglect. What we have described here is not something which
would have occurred in only one season. The lazy man had literally neglected
to take care of all his property. It all comes down to avoiding making the
smaller decisions. If one does not plow, or pluck the weeds, or fix the
stone wall, laziness is not one decision but a series of decisions of
neglect which eventually accumulate into a very bad situation. If he was
going to take care of his property, the work would now be 10 fold because of
the neglect through laziness. The lazy Christian also makes a series of
decisions. They are not going to give to missions. They are not going to
pass out tracts. They are not going to get involved in their church. These
are a series of decisions which will render the Christian useless for the
Kingdom of God and eventually his field of work will be covered over with
thorns. In the Old Testament God used Thorns to represent the unbelievers.
(Josh 23:13 KJV) Know for a certainty
that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations
from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges
in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good
land which the LORD your God hath given you. If
Christians are lazy in their outreach, then we can expect the cults and the
other false gospels to take over where we should have had the witness.
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- Prov 24:32 (KJB)
- Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it,
and received instruction.
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- We can always learn something from those that are diligent in their
business. On the other hand, we can also learn from those who are lazy and
who neglect their responsibilities. Once Solomon saw how neglected the field
was, he received instant instruction on never allowing his fields to get
that bad. He saw the result of laziness and wanted nothing to do with it.
Whenever we come in contact with a lazy man and see his outcome, we must
learn from it instantly and determine never to be like that. Laziness is an
affront to all Christianity stands for because true Christians march ahead
in sending forth the Gospel.
(Zep 1:12
KJV) And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search
Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees:
that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
In Zephaniah, the men of Judah were showing signs of
laziness and in that same verse, we read that God would punish them. They
had the attitude that God will not do good nor evil. They were in for a
surprise when shortly after, Babylon took them away captive. If Christians
are not diligent, then the cults and false teachings will remove the true
teachings and replace them with false teachings, which lead people only to
hell. Laziness does have eternal consequences.
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- Prov 24:33 (KJB)
- Yet
a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands
to sleep:
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- One of the things a lazy person will always strive for and that is a
little more sleep and a little more slumber. They cannot get up at a
reasonable hour but sleep half the day away. This is akin to allowing the
problems to mount and turning a deaf ear to them. Sleeping, or ignoring a
problem, will not make it go away. It will also prevent a person from being
like the ant and storing things for themselves. If they cannot get up in the
morning, they cannot hold a job, which means eventually they are going to
lose everything and be out on the street. Then they will look for sympathy
and hope someone will give them money to live. There is nothing wrong with a
person getting a good night’s sleep but get that sleep so your body will
have strength for the day’s tasks and your mind will be sharp to attack
whatever problems are facing you. Never get into the lifestyle of laziness
because eventually people will see you for what you are and then you will be
forced to fend for yourself. Not even the Lord condones laziness, so you
won‘t get sympathy from Him because He warns the lazy person of their
plight.
(Prov 13:4 KJV) The soul of the
sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent
shall be made fat.
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- Prov 24:34 (KJB)
- So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as
an armed man.
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- Here Solomon speaks of one who travels, that is, in eastern
understanding it is a highwayman, one who waits in hiding to attack and
steal from an unsuspecting traveler on the road. This highwayman has nothing
and must continue to steal to survive. Solomon is also making a comparison
that the life of the lazy man is akin to the life of the thief. The lazy man
does nothing to better himself and hopes to live on handouts and sympathy.
The one who travels loses everything to the highwayman and that is what
happens to lazy people, they lose everything. The thief lives his life from
robbery to robbery and does nothing to try and improve his life. The lazy
man becomes like the man with the shield, that he wants everything he sees
and the man with the shield will steal and not be resisted. The lazy man
wants to earn his keep by doing nothing and living on the sympathy of others
in hopes that he will get everything he wants by means of a symphony of one
lie upon another to cover his laziness.
(Prov 22:13 KJV) The slothful man saith, There is a lion
without, I shall be slain in the streets. The lazy
man makes all kinds of excuses just as we see in Proverbs 22:13. Lazy people
are great at anticipatory excuses when it comes to working or commitment.
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