Undisciplined | Part 1 | Laziness
We’re there in Proverbs 6. Tonight we’re starting a brand-new Sunday evening series entitled undisciplined. And tonight we’re going to be looking at the subject of laziness. Just by way of introduction, let me define for you what discipline is. Discipline or sometimes referred to as character would be what the Bible refers to as self-denial or as self-control. The ability to make yourself do what you’re supposed to do even when you don’t want to. And living an undisciplined life would be living a life where you do not ever tell yourself no, where you never tell yourself not to do that which you want to do because it’s the wrong thing to do. When you always take the path of least resistance, when you always do what comes easier, that is what an undisciplined life is. And over the next several weeks we’re going to be looking at this idea of being undisciplined. And really, we’re looking at the idea of not to be undisciplined, to live a life of discipline.
Throughout the Bible, especially the book of proverbs, speaks a lot about this idea of laziness. If you notice verse, the Bible says “6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: 7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. 9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.”. So we notice that the Bible uses this idea or speaks of this idea of laziness. It uses the term sluggard. We’ll see how it uses the term sloth throughout the book of proverbs. And I’d like you to keep your place in proverbs. We’re going to be looking at a lot of passages from the book of proverbs tonight but go with me if you would to the book of Matthew.
By way of introduction, let me explain why this idea of laziness is so important. This is true for your personal life but also in the life of our Church. Why would we need a sermon on laziness and on being undisciplined in general? The reason is because the local Church is in need of working-class people. In fact, it is working class people who do the work in the Church. When my wife and I started Verity Baptist Church 10 years ago, we were of course a very young Church meeting in our living room. And like most new Churches, we were reaching a lot of people. And I’m not talking about people that were already saved and baptized and growing Christians.
In the early days, we were reaching those that would be referred to as the lower class as far as economic class. And of course we still love poor people, we want to reach poor people, but in those days and for newer Churches in general, it’s very common to reach people that are not working. And we were reaching a lot of people that did not have jobs. They were living off the government. They were living off the welfare system and you know they were getting saved and baptized and we were trying to help them and instill some things in them. And back in those days I used to preach a lot on the subject of laziness and character and integrity and all those things.
One thing that I used to think to myself back then, which I found out was very wrong, is when you are reaching a lot of people in their 30s and 40s that aren’t working, I used to think that at least they had a lot of time on their hands so they could do a lot of soulwinning. Back in the early days of the church, I was soulwinning every day of the week. I thought these people are going to go out soul winning with me and my wife. I thought they would volunteer a lot. What I found out very quickly was that I was completely wrong. It turns out people who don’t work don’t work for anyone including God. They don’t work at all. They don’t do anything. And what I found out as the Church began to grow, I don’t do as much anymore because then we started having people come to our Church that had jobs, careers, ran businesses. And I was watching men who would go to work Monday through Friday, ten hours a day, eight hours a day, moms that were busy homeschooling their children and busy about the business of their lives and then they will show up to soul winning on Saturday. They show up for cleaning. They show up for volunteering. And I used to feel a little guilty about that. And I’m obviously very appreciative of it but I started realizing something, it is the working-class people who also work for the Lord. A Church cannot be filled with lazy people because lazy people are going to be lazy no matter how much time they have. Then as that kind of idea began to cement in my mind, I realized that when God chose workers, he chose people who were already working.
Jesus went around healing the sick, helping the poor, loving those who could not do anything for him. But I want you to notice that when Jesus went about preaching the gospel and doing things for others, he looked for poor people but when he went around looking for volunteers and workers to help him fulfill his ministry, Jesus chose those already working.
Matthew 4:18 “18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.”. Notice two of the most well-known disciples of the 12 disciples Peter and Andrew. Jesus found them when they were at work, they were working, they were casting a net into the sea for they were fishers. “19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.”.
Notice these guys were getting off of work and Jesus found them at their job and said why don’t you work for me. Why did Jesus choose James and John? Why did he choose Peter and Andrew? He chose workers who were already working. Notice verse 22 “22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.”. It’s not just the fisherman. Go to Matthew 9.
Matthew 9:9 “9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.”. You’ll notice that Jesus had this habit of calling people to help him who were at work. In fact, it seems like he only called people while they were working. Why? Because it is the working class that will work for Jesus. And by the way, I can spend a whole night on this and I’m not going to. But you can find this throughout the Bible. Luke was a physician. Paul was a theologian but while on the mission field was a tent maker. There’s something about the fact that Jesus chose and God chose the working class, the working man, the working woman to help him in the ministry. Why? Because lazy people will not help you get anything done. When Jesus was born on this earth and God had to choose a man on this earth to be the father that would raise his son, the Son of God, he chose a man by the name of Joseph who was a carpenter. And you’ll find consistently throughout the Bible that God chooses the working class.
So why a sermon on laziness? Here’s why. Because if our Church is going to accomplish the work that God has called us to do, we must attract working people. I’m all for the poor. I’m all for the downtrodden. I’m all for those who need help. I’m all for loving them, helping them, discipling them, helping them grow. But when it comes to accomplishing the work that God has called us to do, we have to find working people. And you know what? We should help raise a generation of workers. So this is why we need sermons on laziness. This is why we need sermons on these issues. And tonight I’d like to give you 10 characteristics in the book of Proverbs of a lazy person. We’re going to go through them tonight as quickly as we can. I’ll give them to you in order. And I would encourage you to jot these down.
Here’s what I’ve learned about laziness. Most people don’t think they’re lazy. This is the same with most things. Crazy people don’t realize they are crazy. Rude people don’t realize that they are rude. Proud people don’t realize that they are proud. It’s hard to see your issues in a mirror. But the Bible tells us that there are ten characteristics of a lazy person. And you need to ask yourself tonight. Don’t just roll your eyes at me and say “This sermon isn’t for me.”. You say, “Just because I roll out of bed at 11 am doesn’t mean that I’m lazy.”. You should ask yourself as we go through each of these points if you are guilty in any of these areas. Ask yourself if your kids are lazy, if your employees are lazy. We can all have a tendency to be lazy from time to time so we all need to take heed to this.
What does it mean biblically to be lazy? We have 10 thoughts and we’ll go through them as quickly as we can. Number one, a lazy person has to be supervised. A lazy person according to the Bible is someone that has to be supervised. Notice Proverbs 6:6 “6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:”. Here God is looking at a lazy person. He calls him a sluggard. A slug is an insect, an animal, that does not move very quickly. And he’s using this as a term to refer to a lazy person. He says you ought to consider the ant. “6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:”. Now what should we consider? Here’s what we should consider. Verse 7 “7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.”. You say what does it mean to be lazy? Or if you’re asking the question “Am I lazy? Are my children lazy? Are my employees lazy?”. You ought to consider this. Can they work without supervision? Can you work without supervision?
We are told that the ant is not a sluggard. The ant is not lazy. The 1st characteristic we’re giving is that with no guide, no overseer, no ruler, no manager, no supervisor just watching them and looking over them they are able to accomplish their work. See, a lazy person has to be supervised. A lazy person cannot work on their own. They are unable to do what they need to do on their own. By the way, we’ll see it later on in the sermon, this is why lazy people cannot be business owners. This is why lazy people cannot be supervisors. This is why lazy people cannot be bosses. This is why lazy people cannot be put in charge. A business owner has to be able to get out of bed and go to work without somebody standing over them making sure they clock in. Someone who’s going to run the business has to be able to do the work without a guide, overseer or a ruler. And if you don’t work in that capacity and you have a guide and overseer, that doesn’t mean you are a lazy person. But the idea is that if you need to be watched then you’re lazy. Children are by nature lazy. And one thing about children is that oftentimes they need dad there or mom there to be watching over to make sure they’re cleaning their room and they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing and they’re doing what’s being asked of them. And it’s our job as parents to train them to be able to work without supervision. As Christians we should work hard whether we are being physically supervised or not.
Ephesians 6:6 “6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;”. He says don’t serve with eye service. You say what does that mean? That means that you only work because you’re being watched. “6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers;…”. Don’t work in such a way where you’re only interested in pleasing the boss when he’s there, when he’s watching, when he’s paying attention. “6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:”. You say why should I go to work and work hard even if the boss is gone, even if the business owner’s gone, even if the employer is gone. Because as a Christian you’re supposed to be working for the Lord. It doesn’t matter what job you have. It doesn’t matter where you work, whether it’s secular work or whatever it may be. Everything we do should be done as to the Lord and not to men.
Christians should never have to be supervised. Why? The Lord is always watching. The way workers in this world are, they sit there and mess around and do nothing and accomplish nothing and get nothing done. And as soon as the boss walks through the door, then it’s like get to work. As a Christian you ought to have some integrity and not be lazy. You say “I didn’t know that was laziness.”. Well according to the Bible, if you have to be supervised, you’re lazy. “6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: 7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.”. Hey you kids, listen up. Your mom and dad ought to be able to say clean your room and they’re downstairs working or doing whatever they need to be doing and you’re in your room cleaning. They shouldn’t have to stand over you and threaten to spank you in order for you to obey them. Maybe it works that way at the age of 4 or 5 but you need to grow up. You ought to be a hard worker you say what does it mean to be a good worker? It means you’re not a lazy person. A lazy person has to be supervised but a good worker works hard without being supervised.
Number 1, a lazy person has to be supervised. So ask yourself this question. Do you have to be supervised? Does somebody have to be watching you all the time in order to get you to do what you’re supposed to do or can you just get to work on your own. Number 2, a lazy person does not prepare for the future. Proverbs 6:8 “8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.”. Here we’re told that the ant is a hard-working animal. It’s not a sluggard. And one of the things that makes it not lazy is the fact that with no guide, overseer or ruler it provides her meat in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. But the other thing we can take away from this passage is that it provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest. See, in the summertime the ant prepares so that it will be ready to survive during the harvest and it can reap a harvest. It sows in the summer. It reaps in the harvest. It works in the summer and it reaps in the harvest. Why? So that it can survive through the winter. See, the ant is smart enough to realize that during the summer time it can not only feed itself but it can also put away for when the harvest is done, for when the weather gets cold. That way when the food is no longer available, it can put in store for the future.
See, a lazy person does not prepare for the future. You say well what does prepare for the future have to do with being a lazy person? Well it’s the same idea that they lack discipline. When you’re lazy, you lack discipline. You take the path of least resistance. You don’t do what you need to do. You do what you want to do. See, a lazy person lacks the discipline to do now what needs to be done in the future. You say, how can I tell if I’m a lazy person? The lazy person does not prepare for the future. When my wife and I were young we got married, at the age of 18. I’m just telling you that as a fact. I’m not saying that as a recommendation. I don’t recommend it. It worked out for us but I’d recommend waiting until 20. When my wife and I were young, we were broke. We budgeted in our 20s. We saved when we were in our 20s. I remember it. It’s embarrassing now to think about it but I remember us budgeting and scraping away a few dollars here and there to save up for our first dinner table. We ate on the floor for the first year and a half of our marriage while we scraped up money to buy a dinner table. Then we saved up money to buy our first couch. We saved up money to buy our first computer. I remember we spent 300 on a computer and we stayed for a long time and thought about it and prayed about it.
And I’m not complaining to you. It was good for us. It was a good bonding time for us to work together and we spent our 20s serving the Lord. We spent our time on bus routes at our Church. We worked hard at those things and we served in our Church and we did those things. When my wife and I got married, we didn’t go to Hawaii for our honeymoon. We went to clear lake. And let me tell you something about clear lake. It’s not that clear. And I’m thankful we went to clear lake. It was gifted to us by our family and we went there. But you know, when we got married, we watched all the other couples around us getting married and they were all going for their honeymoons to Hawaii on credit cards and payday loans and all sorts of debt. The funny thing is that my wife and I get to go to Hawaii now 17 years later. And I’m not telling you we’re rich or whatever. I’m just telling you this, we’re debt free and we get to enjoy some things now that we’re older.
See, when you work hard and you prepare and you provide your meat in the summer then you can gather in the harvest. And a lot of young people that went off to Hawaii and went off to Vegas and went off partying, well you reap what you sow. They’re paying for that now. And I’m not mad at you if that’s the place you’re in. I’m just telling you that we must realize that we have to develop some discipline and sometimes we have to say no today so we can say yes tomorrow. We have to deny ourselves in some areas. We have to not allow some things. We have to suffer a little bit.
You say Pastor, what were you doing when you were 25 years old? You know my wife and I were starting Verity Baptist Church. And I’m not saying this in an arrogant way and I don’t mean this in an arrogant way and I hope you understand. But you get to reap today the work we put in 10 years ago. And I’m thankful for it. We support a full-time missionary that started a Church in the Philippines and we’ve started five Churches that did not exist before we started this Church. We’ve got several full-time and part-time staff families that are supported through this ministry and the generous giving of our Church and people online. But let me tell you something. All of that happened because the 25-year-old and his 25-year-old wife decided to prepare now so God might bless later. See, a lazy person can work hard and not be supervised and a lazy person does not prepare for the future. But a hard-working person says I’m going to deny myself today so that I can reap the benefits later.
Let me give you a third one. I said number one, a lazy person has to be supervised. Number two, a lazy person does not prepare for the future. A lazy person sleeps a lot. Lazy people are addicted to sleep. Proverbs 6:9 “9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.”. You know lazy people are addicted to sleep. Proverbs 20:13 “13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.”. Obviously, we have times in our life where we are really tired but I’m referring to people who are constantly just sleeping away the days. If you find yourself in a season of life where you are over sleeping and you normally don’t, that can indicate some things. First of all it can indicate a physical problem. You may be sick or have some sort of physical ailment and maybe your body needs to get some rest or you need to get something checked out. We understand that. Sometimes over sleeping can indicate an emotional problem. When people are depressed or discouraged, they tend to sleep a lot. And if you find yourself sleeping a lot, it may be an indication of an emotional problem. Sometimes it’s exhaustion. Sometimes people go through seasons and even here in the ministry we’ll have seasons where things are hectic and there’s a lot going on and there’s a lot to be done and we’re just getting up early and staying up late and just not getting a lot of sleep.
By the way, I also advocate that people get enough sleep. Some people can survive off of 4 to 6 hours of sleep and they are lucky and blessed. However, most people need 7 or 8 hours. I’m not for burning the candle at both ends and those types of things. You ought to get some rest and take care of your body. When I’m talking about sleep, that’s not what I’m referring to. But I will say that some people just chronically are sleeping in and it’s because they are lazy. When you chronically sleep a lot, that’s an indication of laziness. Proverbs 20:13 “13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.”. The person who always sleeps in every day, takes naps every day, etc…The Bible tells us not to love sleep. Sleeping through the day is an indication of laziness. Here’s the interesting thing about people that sleep a lot, laziness results in more laziness, sleeping results in more sleeping. Look, if you allow yourself to get into this habit of sleeping in, you’ll start sleeping in every day and it’ll just become a thing till you decide to stop being lazy.
Proverbs 19:15 “15 Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep;…”. Isn’t that interesting. Now you would think hard work casts into a deep sleep and the Bible says that a hard-working person has good sleep and they get a good night’s rest. But the Bible here tells us that slothfulness, laziness casts us into a deep sleep and “…and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.”. The Bible says the more that you sleep, the more you want to sleep. You say why is that? Because it’s the path of least resistance. It’s what comes easy to your body. You say “How do I deal with it? How do I take care of it?”. You have to force yourself to get up. You need to set an alarm. You need to set two alarms. Whatever you have to do. I read about a guy who was trying to break the habit of laziness and he was some sort of a computer programmer type guy. He developed this software where every day at a certain time every morning, if he did not get up and manually put in a password to turn this program off, it would automatically every morning at a certain time send a message to all his followers on Instagram & Facebook everywhere saying “If you are reading this, it is because I was too lazy to get up and turn off the program and I slept in”. The point is this, laziness begets more laziness. The more you sleep, the more you want to sleep. “15 Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.”. But here’s the interesting thing. The more you sleep, the more you want to sleep. The interesting thing is that the more you sleep in the morning and throughout the day, the less you’re able to sleep when you’re supposed to sleep at night.
Proverbs 26:14 “14 As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.”. Imagine the visual of a door turning on its hinges. I understand that there are some physical reasons why people may have the inability to go to sleep at night and I’m not saying that everybody that can’t sleep at night is lazy. But the Bible tells us here very clearly that there are some people that just turn all night long. They can’t go to sleep. And the reason is they weren’t active enough throughout the day. They just haven’t been active enough. The Bible says “14 As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.”. You say, “I just have trouble sleeping at night.”. Maybe you didn’t do enough during the day. Get a workout, stay busy, do what you need to do. The more you sleep, the more you want to sleep. But the problem with that is that the more you sleep, the more you can’t sleep when you’re supposed to sleep so then you stay up all night on Facebook and YouTube and messing around doing stupid things. Then you’re sleeping in the morning and you’re lazy, you’re undisciplined. Laziness begets more laziness.
Number one, a lazy person has to be supervised. Number two, a lazy person does not prepare for the future. Number three, a lazy person sleeps a lot. Number four, a lazy person cannot be counted on. Proverbs 10:26 “26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.”. The idea is that vinegar irritates the teeth and smoke irritates the eyes. The idea is that when a boss, parent or employer gives a task to a lazy person, it becomes as irritating as when smoke blows in your eyes or vinegar is to the teeth. A lazy person can’t be counted on. You give them a task, you give them a responsibility, you give them something to do and you can’t count on them to do it.
I have learned quickly over the last 10 years of ministry to be able to identify people. What I’m thankful for is that there are some people that just volunteer to do something. You give them a task to do, you give them something to do, and you know it’s going to get done. I mean you can just give it to them and forget about it because they will take care of it without any issues or problems. Then there are other people who say they will do something and it’s a 50/50 chance it will actually get done. We should be the type of person that when you give your word, it is as good as done.
1st Corinthians 4:2 “2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”.
And look, I understand from time to time that we drop the ball. Everyone does. Something happens, you’re stuck in traffic, you get a flat tire, we all fail from time to time. But when you are the kind of person who only gets it done 50% of the time, you’re lazy. You lack discipline. It’s a problem. I’m not mad at you. I’m trying to help you. Your problem in this life is that you constantly take the path of least resistance. You do what comes easy. But the great things in life are not easy. Like we talked about this morning, raising godly children is not easy. Having a good marriage is not easy. Having a great career, starting a good business, these things are not easy. A lazy person cannot be counted on. We as stewards of God must be found faithful. The Bible says a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. Look, you ought to develop a reputation in your life of being faithful.
I’m not going to name names but we’ve got men and women in this Church that I know I can count on. If they say they will take care of it, I know they will. But with others, they say they will do something and I have to follow up with them and double check that they do it. For example, as a parent if you tell your child to take out the trash and 30 minutes later the trash is still there. This is something common with kids and we have to train them but as adults this should not be true of you. Don’t be the type of worker or employee that always has an excuse for why it didn’t happen. Proverbs 10:26 “26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.”.
A lazy person has to be supervised. The lazy person does not prepare for the future. A lazy person sleeps a lot. A lazy person cannot be counted on. Number five, a lazy person is wasteful. Proverbs 12:27 “27 The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.”. The word diligent means hard worker. It’s a biblical word for hard worker in the Bible. Notice the slothful man, that’s the lazy man, roasteth not that which he took in hunting. Now what is this? This is hunting and killing an animal but you’re so tired that you don’t actually cook it. You waste it. The Bible says “27 The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.”
See, the substance of a diligent man, a hard-working man values things. It’s precious to them. Proverbs 18:9 “9 He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.”. What is it saying? Being slothful, being a great waster, they’re brothers. These things go hand in hand. Lazy people are wasteful people. You say why is that? Here’s why. A lazy person does not value things because they didn’t work for it. The substance of a diligent man is precious. That’s why kids don’t care. All the lights are on. The air conditioner is on. The door to the garage is open. The front door is open. The back door is open. Nobody cares. You know who cares? Dad cares. You know why? Dad pays the bills. The substance of a diligent man is precious to them. Because when you work hard for money, you don’t want to see it wasted. Do you know why lazy people are wasteful? Because they don’t value the worth of things. They don’t work for anything. A lazy person does not value things. They do not value what they work for because they didn’t work for it.
Mom and dad, don’t develop a welfare mentality in your home where you just give and give to your kids but they don’t have to work for anything. When you never work for things, you never value anything. When I was 18 and got married, my parents told me that they were cutting the umbilical cord. They told me that it was my job to provide for my wife and family. I’m glad that I had parents who let us struggle a little bit for some things and develop some character. A lazy person is wasteful because they don’t value what they didn’t work for.
John 6:24 “24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. 25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? 26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”. Once you get the context here and earlier in the chapter, Jesus had fed the 5,000. He gave a free meal to the 5,000. In john 6:22, the Bible tells us that we’re now in the day following so this is the day after Jesus fed the 5,000. Jesus is referring to the fact that they’re looking for a free meal. He fed them yesterday and now they want him to feed them again. He fed the 5,000 with the loaves and performed the miracle and now they’re looking for another handout. Now here’s the interesting thing. Jesus identifies the fact that they ate the loaves and were filled. He said that’s the only reason that they are there. They want a free handout.
Jesus then preaches a hard sermon in John 6. And notice what it says in John 6:66 “66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”. What’s interesting is that the people who didn’t work for anything and who were just looking for a handout, they also just walked away from Jesus once he didn’t feed them. These people did not value the ministry of Jesus because they weren’t working in his ministry. They were just there for a handout. And look at our Church. We believe that we should not make the house of God a house of merchandise. And we believe that everything we do around here should be free and we shouldn’t charge for anything and we don’t charge for any of those things. But let me just say this. Sometimes there’s a tendency when you give stuff away for people to not value it and to take advantage of it. It can cause a welfare mentality. This spiritual welfare mentality and to not appreciate it.
Look, we need to be careful about not appreciating the things that you have. People think, it’s church so they should give us this stuff for free. Realize that “not selling” and “giving stuff away for free” are 2 different things. We give away a lot of things here but don’t develop this welfare mentality of being entitled to these things. Let me give you an example. We give away free t-shirts but don’t have this idea “Oh let me get 5 more to give away as Christmas gifts.”. I’m just telling you that sometimes when you don’t pay for anything, you cannot value it. We ought to be mindful and appreciate the things that people give us. I understand that people get flat tires and things don’t work out but when we have events like the Married Couples Sweetheart Banquet and things like that, we put money into those things. Then if 20 people decide not to show up then we wasted a bunch of money. It’s a lazy person and lazy attitude that wastes.
Here’s another characteristic of a lazy person. A lazy person always has an excuse. Lazy people don’t have much but they always have a reason why they can’t do or accomplish something. Proverbs 15:19 “19 The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns:…”. You say how can this be? The idea is this that anywhere a slothful person goes, there’s a hedge of thorns. Diligent people go down a road, walk down a road and realize that there will be difficulties and obstacles to overcome. The slothful person though will quit if there is any resistance. “19 The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.”.
Proverbs 20:4 “4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.”. Proverbs 22:13 “13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.”. The lazy person always has an excuse. They always have a reason why they can’t do something. “I can’t do it because there is a lion in the street or because it is cold.”. Look, there’s always a valid reason for you to not do whatever you’re supposed to do. Do you realize that as the Pastor of this Church, I come up with a valid reason why I couldn’t show up to Church on Sunday night? You hear people with all of these excuses but after a while, you realize that they are just lazy. Diligent people use resourcefulness and initiative. They look at obstacles and they don’t see obstacles as obstacles. They see obstacles as opportunities. Here is an opportunity for me to think a little, to be resourceful, to take some initiative and to try to get something done. In the marines they use the terms improvise, adapt, overcome. You’re not allowed to say that there is an obstacle.
Genesis 49:22 “22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:”. Joseph was a very hard-working man. Everywhere he went, he worked hard. He got things done. He got promoted everywhere that he went. Whatever is put in front of Joseph, no matter how many walls you put in front of him, his branches run over the walls. Joseph found a way to overcome his brothers selling him into slavery. He found a way to overcome that. They lied about him. Sold him into slavery. Threw him into prison. He found a way to overcome that. They had a famine in Egypt and he was in charge of taking care of it. He finds solutions to the problems that came up.
You don’t want to be that guy at work where the boss is constantly asking you to do something and you don’t get it done. Joseph found a way to get things done. He improvised. He adapted. He overcame. He used resourcefulness. He took some initiative and he got it done. But lazy people always have excuses. Maybe you’re here and you didn’t realize it before but you have a lot of excuses. That might mean that you are lazy. Maybe you don’t understand how the Bible defines laziness.
Number seven, a lazy person does not have ambition. Proverbs 13:4 “4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. If you ask a lazy person what they want to do in life, they might mention wanting a good marriage, kids, house, etc…but they don’t have enough ambition to actually do it. Proverbs 21:25 “25 The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.”. They stay up late watching all of these infomercials about all of these things that they want. But he doesn’t actually have the ambition to get them. Proverbs 13:12 “12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”. We have all wanted things and it got deferred and that is encouraging. But the lazy person doesn’t have the ambition or desire to get up and do something.
I hope every father walks out of here this morning with some ambition to raise some kids for God. I hope every mother has a drive in here that says I want to raise these children for the Lord and I want to do something great for God. But look, all of us should have some ambition. But let me just say this, God gave you testosterone and you’re supposed to want to go out and hunt something, kill something, conquer something, overcome something. I look at men today and I see 38-year-old men spending 12 hours a day playing video games. I’m thinking, what are they doing? 1st Corinthians 13:11 “11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”.
Sometimes you have to wake up, group up, work to get something done. Get some ambition in you to accomplish something. Not everyone is vision driven. My wife and I did this personality test and it’s a bit different for men and women and I came out as a more vision driven person which is a good thing. But it has bad things too because vision driven people see things and they want to accomplish things but they’re also the ones that sometimes go broke since they’re pushing toward a goal. It was interesting to me because one time we had lunch with a family at our Church who no longer comes here and this man is sitting across from me and talking about how he has this business that he is starting and he’s doing all of these things. I’m excited for him. I told him it was a great idea. I start giving him these ideas for marketing. I realized that none of those things were connecting with him. I was more excited for his business than he was. He ended up being a failure because the soul of the sluggard shall desire. If you want to start a business, you need to get excited about it, get up early, get a plan, knock doors to promote it.
Number 8, a lazy person does not get promoted. I’m not trying to hurt your feelings but if you’ve been at your job for years and years and years and years and everybody’s getting promoted around you, the guy that doesn’t speak English gets promoted over you, you may be a lazy person. Proverbs 12:24 “24 The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.”. Do you know who gets promoted? Hard working people. Joseph got promoted everywhere that he went. They made him a slave and he got to work and got promoted. They put him in charge of the slaves. They put him in prison and he got to work. They put him in charge of the prison. He started working on the kingdom. They put him up at the top. The only person more powerful than him was Pharaoh. All of God’s people in the Old Testament, you see them getting promoted and being successful. We should not be lazy. We should work hard. A lazy person does not get promoted but hard-working people do. And if you want to be promoted at your job, stop being lazy.
Genesis 47:6 “6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.”. Pharoah is probably a very hard-working person and he says if you know any men of activity, make them rulers. Every young man ought to underline those words “if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.”. He said find men of activity to promote to be rulers. It means they take the initiative. They are diligent. They’re hard workers. They’re busy. They’re not sitting around.
Let me give you point number nine. A lazy person does not take care of things. This goes back to the idea of not valuing things because they don’t work for things. Proverbs 24:30 “30 I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; 31 And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.”. Here Solomon tells us that he went by the field of the slothful, the lazy man, he went to his house and he looked into his backyard and field and it was all grown over with thorns and nettles. A lazy person does not take care of things. Let me help some of you single guys. When my kids are older, one of the things I’m going to tell the potential suiters is look at their care, look at their workplace and if it is dirty then they are probably lazy. Diligent people often can’t get to work in messy environments. They have to clean things around them in order to think clearly. The Bible says a lazy person does not take care of things. “30 I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; 31 And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.”
Sometimes we drive through poor neighborhoods or ghetto neighborhoods and it irritates me as I see trash thrown everywhere. You see people throw empty cans and trash out the window. Every time I see that happen, I just think to myself, that’s a lazy person. They’re so lazy. They can’t even just take their own trash to a trash can. They lack so much discipline that they think that they can just throw trash on the floor and someone will pick it up. By the way, this is why you go down ghetto areas and they all have trash everywhere. A bunch of lazy people live there and everybody’s house looks like trash. We don’t have Church in the nicest area but let everything else be a mess but let our church be clean. We work hard around here and we value what we have and we want to take care of it. Don’t be this person that does not take care of things, that doesn’t value things, that just destroys things.
I said number one, a lazy person has to be supervised. Number two, a lazy person does not prepare for the future. Number three, a lazy person sleeps a lot. Number four, a lazy person cannot be counted on. Number five, a lazy person is wasteful. Number six, a lazy person always has an excuse. Number seven, a lazy person does not have ambition. Number eight, a lazy person does not get promoted. Number nine, a lazy person does not take care of things. Number ten, a lazy person will be poor. Now not all poor people are lazy but all lazy people will be poor.
Proverbs 6:9 “9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.”. When you’re lazy, your poverty is going to travel with you. They’ve done studies of these poor people that win the lottery and get millions of dollars and within years they’re broke. Why? Because it’s not about the opportunity, it’s not about the things you have, it’s about your character.
Proverbs 20:13 “13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.”. Proverbs 19:15 “15 Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.”. A lazy person will be poor. A lazy person will not succeed in life. You come down to Verity Baptist Church on a Saturday morning and you find this auditorium filled with people who have full time jobs. It’s not filled with people who have no jobs and nothing to do. You would think that they would be bored and would want to get out and do something. However, it’s filled with people who are busy. This room is filled with people who are busy all week long either working or raising their kids. Why is that? It is because the workers are the ones that work for the Lord.
So don’t be lazy. Ask yourself about these 10 areas and figure out if you are lazy. Maybe you’re not lazy in all of these areas but maybe you are in some of them. You need to get to work. Maybe your kids are struggling with some of these things. They need to get to work. We ought to be working people because it is the working people that God chooses to do the work of the Lord.
Let’s pray.