Reading
SAA Notes
There are several proverbs today dealing with your behaviour and reactions to people – viz. the verbs: rescue; hold back; don’t lie in wait, gloat, fret. Payback is unwise, even stupid! 24:29
SJA Notes
“I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,”
The sluggard is a person who lacks sense.
This is true in earthly matters. And it is true in spiritual matters.
“… And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.”
The outworking of a sluggards non-work can be very obvious.
This is true in both the earthly lens and the spiritual lens.
Are our souls overgrown with thorns, are our walls 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.”
This can be very easy to see in certain roles. Think of farmers, a sluggard stands out like a sore thumb.
But too, there is a spiritual warning here.
Don’t be a sluggard in the things of God – Who wants spiritual poverty?
In Ecclesiastes chapter 3 we read,
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,”
And in Colossians chapter 3 we read,
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.”
How do we combat spiritual sloth?
Fear the Lord! Work for Him!
* Heavenly Father,
Please rescue us from the temptation to be spiritually lazy.
Please fix within us a desire to please You with whatever our hand finds to do.
And Lord, when we grow weary, please remind us of that wonderful hope, the inheritance of eternal life that we have in You.
Amen.