The Problem of Laziness, Part 2

We don't recognize laziness as sin, but in reality, that's what it is. And God has a lot to say about the lazy man. In the book of Proverbs, the sixth chapter, Go to the aunt, O sluggard, Observe her ways, and be wise, Which, having no chief officer or ruler, Prepares her food in the summer, And gathers her provision in the harvest.

How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest, And your poverty will come in like a vagabond, And your need like an armed man. We need to realize that we are more lazy than we ever dream we truly are. If it's a sin, there's a solution.

God has the answer to every problem that we face. And therefore, we're going to see what God has to say about it. First of all, the characteristics of laziness.

Paul said this in verse 6 of 2 Thessalonians 3, Now we command you, brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep aloof from every brother who leads an unruly life, and not according to the tradition which you receive from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it. But with labor and hardship we kept working night and day, so that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you that you might follow our example.

For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order, If anyone will not work, neither let him eat. He goes on to say this, For we hear that some of you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Paul had talked to them about the fact that the Lord was returning, so they thought, Well, if God is going to come back, why work? Let's just wait for Jesus to return.

So Paul says, Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in a quiet fashion and eat their own bread. He says, Go to work. And then he says, But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.

And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that man and do not associate with him, so he may be put to shame. And yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Paul says, When we got here, we worked.

We worked night and day because we didn't want to be a burden to anybody. And we wanted to be a model to you, an example to you, that we can't live an undisciplined life. We must be disciplined creatures.

He says, Go to work. Let me tell you something, folks. There's jobs out there.

There's lots of jobs out there. But the lazy guy, he just detests work. He doesn't want to go to work.

He'd rather have people give him something than actually go and get a job. Another thing about a lazy person is that they do nothing when adversity strikes. Proverbs chapter 17, verse number 17 says this, A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Correspond that with Proverbs 24, verse number 10. If you're slack in the day of distress, your strength is limited. The lazy person does nothing when adversity strikes.

Why? Because he has to take responsibility. He doesn't want to take responsibility. Why? Because he depends upon other people to give him directions.

He depends on other people to tell him what to do. He detests work. He doesn't want to do those things.

And so when adversity arises, you can't count on him. Listen, folks, when adversity strikes, you got to have somebody you can count on, right? But the lazy man, when adversity comes, he's nowhere to be found. But the last characteristic is unique because the last characteristic tells us that a lazy person is one that truly describes the unbeliever.

Matthew 25. Matthew chapter 25, verse number 14. Christ gives a parable called the Parable of the Talents.

He says in verse number 14, For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves, and entrusted his possessions to them. And when he gave talents to another, two talents, and to another one, each according to his own ability, and he went on his journey. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went out and traded with them and gained five more talents.

In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received one talent went away and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. And after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with him.

And the one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave.

You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.

The one also who had received the two talents came up and said, Master, you entrusted to me two talents. See, I have gained two more talents. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave.

You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.

And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.

But his master answered and said to him, You wicked, lazy slave. You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank and on my arrival, I would have received my money back with interest.

Therefore, take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents. For to everyone who has, shall more be given and he shall have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away and cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness in the place where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

And that parable, a parable which we discussed in great detail when we did a series on the parables, tells us about three people. Two were believers, one was not. Two did what their master asked them to do, one did not.

One was irresponsible, two were responsible. Two saw themselves as stewards, one didn't care. Why? Because one didn't have a heart for his master, didn't love his master, didn't want to serve his master.

Only wanted to serve himself. And the fact being is that he mischaracterized his master. And of course, the master in the story is Jesus Christ himself.

And those that are given the talents are the ones who are part of his kingdom or either possessors or professors in that kingdom. And there was one who was a professor and two that were possessors of the true relationship with God. And Christ would cast that one out into utter darkness.

Why? Because he failed to be responsible with what God had entrusted to him. You see, one of the marks of a believer is that he understands that he's a steward of spiritual issues and that God has given to him or given to her a special talent, a special gift. And they need to use it for the glory and honor of God.

The unbeliever doesn't use it for God, the believer does. The unbeliever doesn't care about doing things for God because he thinks that God's this way and that way. But the believer knows how God is.

He wants to honor God, he wants to serve God, and he wants to bring glory to his name. So what's the believer receive? Commendation. Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

He receives an invitation. Enter into the joy of your master. He receives jubilation.

Why? Because in the presence of God, there was fullness of joy. He receives a promotion because he is able to be ruler over more things now because he was faithful in a few things. And we need to realize and take very good note of this, my friends, is that although we might be strictly disciplined in our home life, we might have the neatest, cleanest homes around.

We might be disciplined in our workforce. We are the best boss or the best employee around. We're always on time.

We are never late. We stay later than everybody else. We get our work done on time.

No one has to wait for us. But if we are spiritually lazy, we are still a lazy person. And a lot of times we are spiritually lazy.

Are we exercising our gifts in the body of Christ? Are we disciplined in our time with God? See, you can be disciplined at the workplace, in your marketplace. You can be disciplined in terms of your bank account and making sure that everything is in tip-top shape. But are you disciplined in your walk with God? Are you lazy in your spiritual life? See, those are the things we got to take into consideration.

And we got to weigh, where are we spiritually? Are we spiritually diligent? Or are we just economically diligent? To be on top of our own spiritual life. How about this? We need to make sure that we're not derelict in our duties when it comes to teaching and training our children, right? So many times, we told you, listen, if you come on Wednesday nights and you listen to this study on Proverbs, number one, you're going to transform your life because God's Word does that. You're going to learn how to train your children and you're going to learn how to tackle the problems you face because Proverbs handles those things.

But we've got to be the kind of people that say, you know what, I can't be spiritually negligent or spiritually lazy in training my children in terms of their walk with God. I can't afford to do that. I can't afford to be spiritually lazy in leading my family in the ways of God.

But sometimes we are, aren't we? We tend to take it for granted. And so we find ourselves looking at our lives saying, you know what, am I a sluggard spiritually? Am I a sluggard in my home when it comes to training my children? Am I lackadaisical in those things? Or am I on top of those things like I should be? Now granted, we're not on top of everything all the time and you're never going to be. But do you desire to do those things? Is it your heart's purpose to further those things? Because the consequences are deadly.

Let me give you the consequences of the lazy person. Proverbs 19, 15. Proverbs 19, 15 says this.

Laziness casts into a deep sleep and the idle man will suffer hunger. Laziness causes you to live a sleepy life, number one, and a hungry life, number two. Now, I'm not against taking naps.

I try to get one every Sunday afternoon. I go home after preaching two services, I'm a little worn out. Mentally, I'm worn out.

Emotionally, I'm worn out. And so I have to go home and just take, if I can just get 35, 40 minutes, I'm a happy camper. You know, so I'm not against taking naps.

Naps are fine. But the lazy person tends to stay in bed and not get out of bed. They can't wait to get to bed because, you know, they just love their sleep.

And what happens is that the lazy person just becomes more and more sleepy. And the sleepier they get, the hungrier they're going to be. Why? Because when you don't work, you're not profitable, you're not doing what God's called you to do, the end of that is you don't get to reap the benefits of hard work.

And we need to understand that a lot of us, when we are sleepy spiritually, we also are hungry spiritually. And our souls begin to be starved for the things of God. And so we got to be careful about the consequences of laziness.

Number three, not only the sleepy life and the hungry life, but I like this one. I call this the botchy life. You ever botch things up? The lazy person tends to botch things up.

Ecclesiastes 10, verse number 18, says this, through indolence the rafters sag and through slackness the house leaks. The lazy person lives a botchy life, things just don't come together for him. They don't come together for him because he cuts corners.

They don't come together for him because he botches everything up. He just doesn't want to put the time into fixing that which needs to be fixed. He doesn't want to do that.

And so, whether it's his property, whether it's his building, whether it's his organization, no matter what it is, he just botches everything up. Nothing comes together for him because when he's in charge, he just doesn't get it done. Let me ask you something.

Are you somebody that others can count on to get it done? If someone asks you to do something, are you going to get it done? Or do they got to keep reminding you to get it done? For instance, husbands, when your wife asks you to get something done at home, do you get it done? Or does she got to keep asking you to get it done? Now, sometimes we say, well, that's just procrastination. But procrastination is just a long word for being lazy. That's all it is.

You know what I'm saying? Why do it today when I can put it off to tomorrow, right? But sometimes, you know, our wives ask us to do things that maybe aren't important to us, but they're important to her, right? And so we tend not to think that we're lazy people. When you go home from work, I mean, do you expect your wife to feed you, you know, three square meals a day, all hot, all on time, you know, and never lift a finger to help her? Do you go home and, you know, turn on ESPN or turn on CNN or turn on Fox News or turn on whatever it is you're going to watch and expect your wife to get it all done for you? And just sit back in your easy chair, relax, take it easy, bring me the iced tea, you know, have the dog come get your slippers, bring you the paper. Is that the kind of person you are? Expecting someone else to always do for you? Or are you a doer? You see, a lot of times, we expect people to do things for us.

Well, my wife is supposed to do those things for me. She's supposed to cook meals. Just think, what would have happened if you came home one day and said, hey, honey, guess what? I'm doing dinner tonight.

I'm fixing dinner. You sit down in the easy chair. You watch your favorite TV show.

I'm doing dinner. She goes, what are you doing? I don't know. I'm making reservations tonight.

That's what I'm making, you know, but you do something. But the lazy person, you know, he just, he just expects, expects to be waited on. I'll talk more about this in a second when we get to the cure for laziness.

But there's the sleepy life. There's the hungry life. There's the botchy life.

The leaks just are never fixed. Those things that are broke remain broken. And on top of that, the lazy person makes no effort to make a plan to get it done.

Doesn't even lift his finger to make the right phone call to get the person out there to do what needs to be done. Next thing, the thorny life. The lazy person lives a thorny life.

Over in the book of Proverbs, the 15th chapter, the 19th verse, it says this, the way of the sluggard is as a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway. The path of the sluggard is a hedge of thorns. In other words, there's always something blocking the pathway of the lazy man.

He lives a thorny life and thorns are representative of hindrances. Thorns are representative of those things that are in the way that keep you from accomplishing any kind of goal or objective. But guess what? The lazy person doesn't have any goals or objectives.

Doesn't care. And yet the diligent man, the disciplined man, he's on the highway. There are no obstacles.

He's just sailing down the road, man, because he's working diligently. But the lazy man, because he's sleepy, because he's hungry, because he botches everything up, his life is like a hedge of thorns. There's always something in the way.

His life is a hindered life. Over in Proverbs chapter 22, verse number 5, it says this, thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse. He who guards himself will be far from them.

Again, you have the analogy of thorns and snares and the perverse man, they're always there. That's why you got to guard your life. Be disciplined in your life so that you're not being hindered on the way.

So, the consequences for the lazy man, sleepy life, the hungry life, the botched life, the thorny life. Number five, the poverty stricken life. Proverbs chapter 6, verse 11, says this, and your poverty will come in like a vagabond and your need like an armed man.

The poverty life, number five, the needy life, number six. You are a needy person. You got needs that can't be met.

Why? Because you're defenseless. You're helpless. If you're hopeless, you're helpless.

And that's what happens to the lazy man. And yet, the ironic thing is that they like to stay in that realm because they want people to do for them. So, what is the cure for laziness? Let me give you six principles.

Number one is this, admire the ant. That's a very humbling thing because I like to admire the tiger, the lion, the elephant, the big beasts. But the Bible says, admire the ant.

Look to the land, oh sluggard. Admire the ant. Now, I don't know about you, but you ever tried to block an ant from getting to where you're supposed to go? I love to do things like that.

You know, just like passing the time. And you know, you see these ants and they got all these loads on them and they're carrying them and you put a stick down, they put your hand down. They're either going to crawl over your hand, go around your hand, but you know what? They never stop.

They never stop. They're so persistent. Admire the ant because they never quit.

And I got to tell you, I don't mind killing insects, but I mind killing ants. I get my raid out and I spray them and they all die. And I'm not a very emotional being, but every time I kill an ant, it hits me a little deep because I'm supposed to admire the ant for their stick-to-it-ness, for their persistence.

They just keep on going and it requires humility to do that because we have to lower ourselves to that level. The Bible tells us to bear one another's burdens, you know, you ever see an ant bear a burden? They got all kinds of things on there. Well, I don't think ants have shoulders, but whatever it is they got there, they're carrying.

I mean, it just, it seems like it's just so big. It's bigger than they are. They just keep on going.

It's almost as if they never get tired. They're always working. Admire the ant.

Look to the ant, oh slugger. Number two, consider the consequences. Always consider the consequences.

Your poverty will come as a robber and your want like an armed man. Consider the consequences of not only your physical laziness, but your spiritual laziness. Consider the consequences for your family, your own spiritual life.

How detrimental it will be for them if you as a leader of your family don't lead them right. Take some time to consider the consequences and ask yourself what legacy you're leaving behind. Number three, serve the Savior.

If you want to no longer be a lazy person, serve the Savior. Don't serve your wife. Don't serve your boss.

Don't serve your church. Just serve Jesus Christ. Serve your Savior.

That's why the Bible says over in Romans chapter 12, verse number 11, these words, verse number nine, let love be without hypocrisy, a poor what is evil, clean to what is good. Be devoted to one another and brotherly love. Give preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in diligence.

Don't be a slugger. Don't be a sluggard. Fervent in spirit, boiling over in spirit, serving the Lord.

How do you boil over with fervency in the spirit? How do you maintain diligence? You serve the Lord. You serve Him. Colossians chapter three, verse number 22, says it this way, slaves in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord, rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. Serve the Lord.

Remember the book of Mark. It's a great book. Twelve of the sixteen chapters begin with the word and, and, if you read the book of Mark, there's a prominent feature of our Lord that's always emphasized, and that is the hands of our God.

He reached out his hand and touched the blind man. He took the person by the hand. Why? Because the mark, the symbol of a servant, is his hands, his hands.

Mark emphasizes the, the identity of our Lord as being a servant, his activity. And that's why it's always, and this, and, and, and he went here, and then he went there, and then he did this. It's always about his hands.

Why? Because our Lord was the consummate servant. And if we're going to serve the Lord, we look to him as the ultimate example for our lives, and we are to serve as he himself served. Mark 10 tells us that he came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life away.

And if we're going to not be lazy people, we got to memorize the book of Mark. We got to see our Lord as a servant, and that we are protectors of the divine nature, and we too are servants for our God, and serve our Lord faithfully. Admire the end, consider the consequences, serve your saver, savior.

Number four, focus on the future. Focus on the future. Mark chapter 8, it speaks to the fact about being alert, about our future, and the return of Christ.

And the Lord says these words, take heed, keep on the alert, for you do not know when the appointed time is. It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house, and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Now, if we were to do an in-depth study of that, you'd realize that the doorkeeper himself was Peter initially, because he was given the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

That is, he was the one that would open the door to the Gentile world, and that doorkeeper needed to be on the alert. And we need to realize that we in a sense are doorkeepers in the kingdom of God, that we open the door for people to understand who Jesus Christ is. And what the Lord is saying that you need to be on the alert, and the way you're ready for the Lord's return, the way you're actively alert to God's return, is the very fact that you are witnessing for him, sharing Christ, and telling other people about him.

One of the greatest cures for the lazy man, is to realize that Jesus Christ is going to come at any moment, and what you need to do is make sure other people know that he can come back. And you know what? You find yourself actively involved in doing what God has called you to do, and we need to be on the alert. That's why the Bible says, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

It's in the context of the return of Christ, first Corinthians 15, 58, that Jesus is going to come back again. So what's our response? Just keep working for God. Stay active, always planning for the future.

Next, each moment. Maximize each moment. Ephesians 5, 16 says we need to redeem the time.

Colossians 4, verse number 5 says we need to make the most of every opportunity. Maximize each moment. Let me tell you something folks, don't maximize each day, maximize each moment.

What are you doing for the sake of the kingdom? Every moment of the day. I started thinking about this in my own life and realized I waste a lot of my day doing nothing. Daydreaming, not doing what I need to be doing.

I think all of us would say we watch too much TV. We do too many idle things. We need to maximize every moment.

That's what it means, but to redeem the time, buy back every opportunity for the sake of the kingdom. Paul says be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Redeeming the time for the days are evil.

Ephesians 5, 16. And we need to maximize every moment with our families, right? In the workplace, with our church ministry, realizing that Lord could take me home at any moment. So am I ready to go? Am I doing for him what needs to be done? And lastly, realize the results.

Realize the results. Well done, now good and faithful servant. The Bible says who can find a trustworthy man who can find a faithful man.

And when the Lord says those great words, remember God says to you, well done. Good job. Faithful servant.

That's the result of the person who is a great steward of what God's given to him, of his home, his family, his life. To hear those words enter into the joy of the Lord. You've been faithful in little things.

Now, I'm going to put you in charge over many things because you have been so faithful to me. Recognize those results. It's a great reward from our God.