Life Goals: Work Hard

In the 1920’s-1960’s, with the exception of time periods where the economy was bad, companies tried to take care of their employees. It was thought that the husband should go to work and the wife be at home caring for the children. So, companies took care of their employees and the family. That is not the way companies think and act today. In fact, it seems as if companies oftentimes care little for their employees.

I have had a number of different jobs. I remember mowing grass for our neighbor’s lawn company, working at a book store, department store, lawn maintenance at a large distribution company in Harrison, washing dishes at Cracker Barrel in Russellville, and working at the Post Office. At none of those jobs did I ever feel like the company cared much for me. At times my work ethic was poor. At times my work ethic was very good. Though the company not caring for me made it difficult, I should have always been working hard. That is how a person works wisely in this world according to God’s Word.

People often lament more laziness in our day. I’m not really sure that this is the case, but there could be some reasons for this being so.

1. Companies do not take care of their employees like they once did. And so, employees don’t care about the welfare of the company they work for.
2. Employees do not take pride in their work. This is also possibly because they do not care about the welfare of the company that they work for.
3. Parents do not teach work as much as they did in the past. Modern households in America are equipped with things that have made life easier. My Mom said that her and her sister would have to cut the grass at the fence line with scissors. They did not have a weed eater. Before microwaves cooking was more of a chore. Before dishwashers it took longer to wash dishes. Before washing machines doing laundry was quite difficult. Everyone had to pitch in to get the chores done in the house. Our modern comforts could aid in laziness.
4. There are likely other reasons, but this next one should not be passed over.

Laziness has always been around and will be until Jesus returns. We can make all the excuses we want about being lazy, but the truth is that it is foolish to be lazy. We know this because of how often it is discussed in Scripture. The terminology is however different. In Scripture and especially in the Book of Proverbs the lazy person is called the “Sluggard”. Just so we get this straight from the outset. Your work now is school + whatever job you may have. This is immediately applicable to every one reading this post.

If we are going to live wisely in this world that God has created then we will be people who work hard. Work hard: do not be a sluggard!

“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in the summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed animal.”—Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV

Begin you work, end your work, and don’t rationalize your laziness. Do what you’re supposed to do from start to finish and be real about what’s going on. This is working wisely in God’s World.

Begin Your Work (Vv. 6-11)

The sluggard does not begin things. Solomon reveals this by putting the ant and the sluggard side by side. Notice, the ant has no boss, yet prepares food in the Summer and harvests in the winter. We know that he did not think that ants were actually planting and harvesting crops, but he humanizes their activity to illustrate what people should be doing. The any is working when he is supposed to be working, seemingly with little to no direction. And notice this, rather than working the sluggard lies down and will not rise from sleep.

I oftentimes have problems starting things myself. It is relatively easy for me to keep working once I’ve begun a task, but getting started seems to be the hardest part. The ant gets up every day and works. The sluggard, however, chooses not to do so.

I have been around a number of really lazy people in my life. And, quite often, this is the first indicator as to the measure of their laziness. They are constantly saying that they will do things that they never get around to doing. There are a plethora of excuses. It’s not as if they haven’t reasoned it out in their own mind. The reality is that they never begin their work.

I think we all slip into this at times as well. I can’t count the number of times that I have sat down to watch TV with the intention of getting up after resting a few minutes only to find myself engrossed in the 3^rd or 4^th TV show in a row and realizing that I did not do what I was supposed to do. You see, sleep is not the mode of laziness of choice for the sluggard today. Today it’s TV or video games. In Solomon’s day the lazy person didn’t have as many options when everyone went to work, but today there is more for the lazy person to do and avoid work.

The questions we have to ask now are quite personal. What are you like with homework? Is it hard for you to get started? Do you put it off until you eventually don’t do it at all? What are you like with tasks you’ve been given to do? Do you do them at all? Is it hard for you to get started? Do you ever get started?

Here is the thing, laziness is a process. It doesn’t seem like a process, but it is. Look at the sluggard of Proverbs 6.

“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest”. It’s not as if the person intends to be lazy or do nothing for the day. It is more of a process than that. “I’ll sleep for ten more minutes.” I don’t feel like doing my homework right now. I’m tired. I’ll watch TV and rest for a minute.” But here is the problem. Much like most other sins we don’t jump to complete laziness in one step. It is actually one small step after another that leads us to being lazy.

Laziness is a process of small surrenders. I can remember a few different occasions where I actually would tell Amanda, “I have a lot to do tomorrow. I’ll have to get up and go to…” The next morning I slept in. Then I went to the living room, sat down, and watched TV and was eating lunch before I realized where the time went. One small surrender after another and chores that I had told Amanda I would do at home don’t get done. It’s not that I didn’t intend to do it. It was actually one small surrender after another until I didn’t get the job done. That’s the process of laziness.

Here is the problem with this process. Though it doesn’t seem like a big deal, these small steps generally lead to poverty (Vv. 10-11). Taken to its logical conclusion, laziness leads to this rather unpleasant place very quickly.

 “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed animal”—(Proverbs 6:10-11 ESV)

Get the picture Solomon paints. A man sits in his room making the decision to rest and to sleep. All of a sudden poverty strikes him over the head like a baseball bat and need attacks him like a lion. This is the way laziness works. No one intends to be lazy, but small decision after small decision is made. And all of a sudden, there is no money to pay the light bill. All of a sudden, there is no money to pay the rent. All of a sudden, there is no money to put food on the table. You’ve been struck by poverty and eaten by need.

Think about these things before we move on.

• How are you at beginning tasks that you have to do?
• How are you at beginning tasks that you have agreed to do?
• Do you make excuses until you simply do not do the task that you are supposed to do?—use myself as an example with exercise.
• What excuses do you make for not starting things?

Starting a task is difficult for the sluggard, but more difficult still is completing the task that he has begun.

Finish What You’ve Started (Vv. 12:27; 19:24; 26:15)

Some of the Proverbs about the sluggard not finishing his task are quite humorous.

“Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.”—Proverbs 12:27 ESV

The lazy man has a dead animal that he can prepare for food. Meat was precious in this day, grains and vegetables were eaten daily and meat was a big deal. A lazy man can squander the good sitting right in front of him while the man who is diligent can have the same thing and it be considered precious and turn out to be a great treasure.

We see this happen all the time in our lives, but it is pointed out most in the world of sports. Think about it. You have some athletes who are unbelievable physical specimens. They lift more weight, run faster, jump higher, and just look more impressive than nearly everyone who ever approaches them. Yet, they are oftentimes not the MVP of whatever sport is being discussed. Some scrawny guy who works hard gets that spot. Steph Curry is one example of this. You have probably also witnessed this in the lives of siblings. Observe sets of siblings and you’ll oftentimes see one that advances more than the rest. They were given the same start, the same parents, the same education, yet there is sometimes one who is diligent. You’ll notice, as a general rule, the diligent one taking the same start much further than the other siblings.

Why discuss Steph Curry and siblings? The reason is quite simple. It shows what diligence and finishing a task is worth. If you are able to put your nose down and do your work, it will get you far in this life. It will take you much further than the sluggard who has had the same advantages as you, and sometimes more advantages.

The next is quite humorous. I laugh at the picture. In fact, I almost laughed out loud this time. And then, when you begin to consider what is being said it is quite sad.

“The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.”—Proverbs 19:24 ESV

The food sitting in front of the sluggard is too much work for him. Imagine a person who did this with a bowl of potato chips. He reaches his hand out and declares “it’s too much”. The sluggard knows what he needs to do and actually begins the work necessary to feed him, but the work is too hard for him. He stops. Even though he is incredibly close to providing for his needs he can’t handle the work and is left without.

“The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.”—Proverbs 26:15 ESV

Again, the sluggard’s hand is in the dish, but this time it is just too exhausting for him to bring his hand back to his mouth.

I’ve seen this happen on occasion. A person or family knows that they need to work. So, they go through the process of finding a job. This job will in fact provide for what they need. It is enough money to rent their home, buy their groceries, and pay their utilities. They begin their job and before the first paycheck quit their job or are fired for not showing up. Even though this was a necessity the work wore him out. His laziness kept him from providing his necessities.

Here is what Solomon tells us here. The lazy person can spoil that which is precious by his not finishing a task. The task at hand may be a job, but it may also be school. Meat was precious and food is precious and necessary, but through lack of work ethic the lazy person squanders it. At the same time, the person with a good work ethic can be given the exact same thing and it is precious.

Give two people the same start up, let’s say $10,000: one lazy, one hard worker, and you will notice something. The hard worker will turn it into more while the lazy person will squander it. The hard worker might buy a vehicle to get to work and outfit him in such a way that makes him able to make more. The lazy person might buy a car with the intention of getting a job and then not get one. Or, he might get one and not go to work.

Here is one very applicable to the students reading. Everyone in your school is given a free education K-12. You have the opportunity to take advantage of this. Some of your peers are smarter than others. So, not everyone starts on equal footing, but you are getting a quality education. Some of you will work diligently and this will lead to going to a good college for less money. There will be many people attending colleges that are more diligent than others. For the most part, they will work their way into jobs while many of their counterparts will squander away this opportunity.

Do you see how diligence to finish tasks leads some to greater successes? That’s the point. While others are wasting their opportunities, the diligent do not. God is in control of circumstances. God is sovereign and ruler over all, but God has also ordered the Universe in such a way that hard work leads to success in life.

Watch Steph Curry video.

Lastly, knowing that hard work generally leads to success in this life it should come as no surprise that we should avoid rationalizing our laziness. In other words, we should not make excuses for our laziness.

Don’t Rationalize Your Laziness (Proverbs 22:13; 26:16; 20:4)

Laziness breeds the lamest of excuses. Solomon lists one in Proverbs 22:13.

“The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!”—Proverbs 22:13 ESV

Imagine going to a friend’s house, knocking on their door and saying, “Hey, you better not miss work today or you’ll get fired.” To which he answers, “I can’t I could be eaten by a lion if I left my house today.” This is a lame, lame excuse. And you would see it as such. But, laziness in a person produces the worst of excuses.

How many bad excuses have you heard when someone wasn’t able to get something done? My guess is a lot. And if you haven’t, then you have probably been the one giving them. There’s a reason, “the dog ate my homework” bit was so funny. It’s because that’s really how bad the excuses of some lazy people are. But the problem is that these excuses sometimes are so effective that the person who made it up actually believes it. Is it effective when you believe it but no one else does? I guess effective is the wrong word. Rather than being effective they are self-deceiving being effective only to the person giving it.

I’ve heard it said by a wise person, “If you want to find somebody that’ll get the job done, go find a busy person.” Those people are not lazy, and those people know how to get things done. You see this in church all the time. Why is it that 10% of the people in a congregation will do 90% of the work? It’s this principle. I have to ask people to help with different ministries often. I have done this in multiple locations, and it will always be the case that I will find a plethora of excuses by people who do not want to work. Sometimes the reasons are legitimate, but often they  make one eyebrow rise as they slip further into self-deception and I leave the conversation confused about their excuse.

And here’s another problem for the sluggard. Even the wisest of people will struggle to reveal to the lazy their laziness. Have you ever tried to tell a person that they need to buckle down and get their work done? It’s not easy.

“The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.”—Proverbs 26:16 ESV

Here is where things get incredibly sad. Even though many people go out of their way to tell the lazy person how foolish they are acting, it will most often be of no avail, for he believes himself to know better and be smarter than the wise people who have spoken to him. Most often, the lazy person has rationalized his laziness so much that he will not be talked out of it.

Two instances come to mind as I think on this. A guy who graduated from a youth ministry I worked at was lazy. He would sleep his day away and play video games at night. He was living with his grandparents who could not afford to keep paying bills and feeding him. Person after person told him he needed to get a job, yet he always had an excuse. “I’m going to college in the Fall.” Then Fall would roll around and he would drop out for that semester because he was too lazy to do his work. It wasn’t until I was counseling him after a few failed jobs and a transcript full of “F”’s that he would listen. And he was able to turn things around. As far as I know he has a job and is trying to make something of himself.

The second is a generalization about many different people I’ve run into. There are many instances of people that I’ve known who just won’t get a job. They blow through their parents’ retirement or slob around while their spouse works her tail off. They spoil what they had in this life and what other people give them. But they have a whole list of reasons why things are this way. And everyone else looks at their life and can see that the problem is their laziness.

Don’t make excuses for your laziness. Own it and then change.

Concluding Thoughts

There are a number of lessons that will be learned now or will be learned the hard way.

1. Work like the ant (Proverbs 6:6-8). Observe the ant. See how diligent the ant is to work and repent of your own laziness. The and is at work at all times and is prepared for the long and hard winter. If you’re not diligent then you may not be ready.
2. The lazy person will learn their lesson either now or when it is too late.

“I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.”—Proverbs 24:30-34 ESV

After a series of small surrenders you the lazy will be overpowered by poverty which comes like a robber. And need comes upon them like an armed man. It may be quick, it may be sudden, and it will be devastating.

We all at times suffer from laziness. And the cure for our laziness is the same as the cure for other sins. It is the finished work of Christ. He came to Earth and died as our substitute. He paid the price for our laziness and other sins. He rose from the dead and conquered the power of sin and death. We turn from our sin and trust in Him. Trust in Christ, seek His forgiveness where you have sinned, and begin your work then finish it. Or the consequence will be severe.
“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come upon you like a lion, and want like an armed man.”–Proverbs 24:33-34 ESV

R. Dwain Minor