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Ecclesiastes 10:18 Because of laziness the building decays, And through idleness of hands the house leaks. (NKJV)
Aaahhh… being lazy. Doing nothing except what you feel like doing. That would be such a perfect life. Right? Wrong. Very, very wrong.
The Bible has much to say about laziness and none of it is good. Remember, rest is not laziness. Recreation isn’t necessarily laziness. Relaxing is not necessarily laziness. There are appropriate and God-given times for all those things.
Laziness is doing NOthing,
when God would have you doing SOMEthing.
If God would have you rest, it is not laziness. If God is giving you a time of relaxation, quietness and refreshment, that’s not laziness either. If you’re watching TV when God would have you studying your Bible, that IS laziness. If you’re sleeping in on Sunday morning missing church because you were out late Saturday at the movies, that is laziness. If you can’t find time to pray in the morning because you wore out the snooze button, leaving only enough time to get ready and fly to work, that’s lazy.
Laziness is doing something easy,
when God would have you doing something hard.
Laziness is playing golf when God is trying to get your attention about the widows at church who need your assistance. Laziness is finding time to watch alot of movies but never finding time to conduct a Bible study. Laziness is not praying because it’s too hard, so you read a Christian book instead. Laziness is sitting around at work trying to fill your time with anything that will make the clock tick faster instead of doing your best for your employer.
What does God have to say about laziness:
- The lazy are poor stewards of God’s possessions – Ecc 10.18
- The lazy are wasteful – Prov 12.27
- Laziness leads to death – Prov 21.25
- The lazy are self-deceived – Prov 26.16
- Laziness will be severely punished – Matt 25.26
- The lazy have time to gossip and meddle – 1Tim 5.9
- The lazy deserve to starve to death – 2Thess 3.10
Laziness can be careful hidden in many subtle ways in our life. As you examine yourself for laziness, ask yourself these questions:
- Are you wasting time in any way? (too much idleness, entertainment, sleep or recreation, etc)
- Are you avoiding harder things that God would have you do and justifying it by filling up the time with easier things? (not necessarily bad things, but not what God would have you doing. For example, reading a Christian book instead of praying)
- Do you avoid any hard work, tasks or activities that God would have you do?
- Examine your schedule. Do you have any hard work, difficult tasks or laborious service regularly scheduled? Or overall is it a pretty light and easy schedule?
Dealing with laziness in our lives is hard work.
That is the irony of it. The same laziness you are trying to correct will keep you from making the difficult effort to deal with it in the first place. A catch 22: too lazy to deal with laziness. Ask your close, trusted friends to help you. Give them permission to be honest with you. If you feel really daring, ask your spouse or parents. The rewards of ridding your life of laziness will be immediate and apparent.
Father Above, laziness is such an evil in Your sight. We pray that You will reveal to us all the ways we are lazy. We pray for the obedience and discipline to correct any areas of our life that are lazy. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Contemplation: Would you consider another person lazy who managed 20 hours a week or more watching TV and movies, but could only make 15 minutes a day to pray and read the Bible? What about the person who finds many hours a week to pursue sports, recreation or time with friends but can barely endure an hour at church once a week?
Application: Some of these issues are about correcting priorities, but alot of it is just pure laziness. Are you this person? You will never make progress in this area unless all the excuses are tossed. Wasting God’s time through laziness is a very wicked practice. Ask God to give you wisdom in this area.
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