Lesson 13 - November Fourth Week
Laziness Is Destructive
Background Reading:
2 Chronicles 29:11; Ecclesiastes 10:18; Proverbs 6: 6;,10-11; 13:4; 19:15; Romans 12:10-12
Devotional Reading:
Proverbs 6:6-11
Central Verse:
“Not slothful in business: fervent in spirit: serving the Lord.”
Romans 12:11, KJV
“Never be lazy but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.”
Romans 12:11, NLT
Key Terms:
Slothful – Inclined to the quality or state of being lazy.
Sluggard – A habitually lazy person.
Lazy – Not willing to act or work.
Introduction:
Laziness involves a lack of motivation and determination to act, even when the person has the capacity to complete a task. The dictionary says that a genuinely lazy person struggles to fulfill their responsibilities efficiently. They tend to be unambitious, which means they don’t have a strong work ethic or make plans to pursue their dreams. They put in the least amount of effort possible and are content to just skate by without reaching their full potential.
There is truly little good that is said about a lazy person. Very few people want to be associated with a person who is known to be lazy, because they are such procrastinators. They constantly postpone things, saying that they will do it another time and never accomplish anything. Lazy people have no real value of time, so this causes them to be constantly late.
The Prophet told Hezekiah in Chronicles 2:11 not to be negligent because the Lord had made choice of him, to stand before Him, and to serve and minister to Him. He wanted Hezekiah to understand that he could not be lazy and serve his leader. The believer must not allow ourself to be lazy as we serve our leader. A good servant knows what our leader needs before he asks for it, because we have taken the time to know the leader and what his desires are. He can never be a good leader if he is too lazy to be a good follower.
Discussion:
Most of the time if a person is lazy, he is nasty, dirty, and wasteful. Laziness is a serious matter, because if a person is lazy in the natural, most of the time he is spiritually lazy. And spiritual laziness is a great obstacle in his journey of faith. Jesus requires the believer to choose a narrow path, to dedicate time to prayer and the studying of the Word to live a committed life of holiness.
But laziness will hinder the spiritual growth of a believer. So, the believer must embrace the daily challenge of following Christ with dedication and fervor. Time is a gift from God, and He requires the believers to manage it well, because He cares how the believer spends his time. God is timeless, He doesn’t need time, but He does provide it for the believer.
Believers need to look at our lives and see what can be done better and find out what we can do and where we can prevent procrastination. Usually where there is procrastination there is confusion, anxiety and doubts, and the believer needs to work on bringing his thoughts under the control of the Holy Spirit. He must remember that his thoughts are not the Lord’s thoughts, so he must be mindful of what is on his mind.
In the Word, God uses the ant as an example of an industrious life. He said to look at the ant’s life: he has no supervisor or boss over him, yet he works diligently to make sure that when the cold weather comes, he and his community have food and supplies for winter. God tells the people that we cannot lay around and sleep all day and expect to receive what we need, we must get up and work while the weather is nice, while the sun is yet shining.
The Word lets the believers know that if we are lazy or slothful, it will cause us to be sleepy and idle, then later when we have a need or want to eat something, there is nothing in the cupboard for us to get. If we are too lazy to put anything there, when the need arises, there is nothing to fulfill that need.
Conclusion:
To overcome a lazy spirit the believer must allow words like discipline and self-control to become a part of our vocabulary. For without them we won’t get a grip on our lives and move from lethargy, procrastination, and frustration. We will find ourselves wasting time, losing the battle, and wallowing in laziness, fear, and materialism.
The wise man said in Ecclesiastes 10:18 that by much slothfulness the building decayeth and through the idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. For if a person uses a slack hand, he will remain poor, but if he gets up and is diligent in his actions he can become rich. A wise and virtuous man or woman cannot sit around and be idle and think that the blessing will come. No – only lack, wants, and need will come.
A sluggard can have all the dreams and desires that anyone else has, but until he gets up and does something about it, he will remain poor and live in lack.
The Lord let the Israelites who were too lazy to get up and go gather manna each day, but tried to store up manna during the week, experience worms in their cupboards. He had instructed them to go daily and gather it and, at the weekend, get enough for two days. But they were too lazy and disobedient to obey God, so they suffered the consequences.
Questions
1. Why is laziness destructive?
2. What can a believer do to get rid of his lazy spirit?
3. Why does a person become spiritually lazy?
Essential Thought:
When a person allows himself to be lazy,
he sets himself up for failure and lack.