The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. (Prov. 26:15)
WORK FASCINATES SOME PEOPLE; they can look at every weekday from 8 until 4.
You’ve seen on-the-job laziness, haven’t you? Lazy employees show up late and leave early. They take frequent bathroom breaks, engage in long personal phone calls, spend much of each day on Facebook and Twitter, stretch lunch breaks far into the afternoon hours, flit about from employee to employee, and use what’s left of the workday refilling their coffee mug. It seems they write their own job description, and it doesn’t include the words work, perform, responsibility, and accomplish. Proverbs often identifies the lazy “worker” as a sluggard.
Believers’ work habits should sharply contrast with those of a sluggard. Because God requires us to be faithful stewards of all He has given to us (1 Cor. 4), we thank Him for our jobs and try to be His trustworthy servants at work. We can neither excuse nor defend a sluggard’s laziness, but someday “each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). Therefore, we accept the challenge to be very careful how we live (and work)—”not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity” (Eph. 5:15–16). If we work faithfully now, we will receive a good performance review then.
Choose to accomplish something for God whatever your work may be.
Jim Dyet was born in Scotland and raised in Canada. Married for fifty-six years, he and Gloria live in Colorado Springs and enjoy daily walks with their three dogs.
