Don’t Be Too Quick to Say No
The word sluggard occurs 14 times in Proverbs, but is nowhere to be found in the other 65 books of the Bible. This is curious.
First, what is a sluggard? It’s a slothful person; an idler; a person who is habitually lazy. Consider then, Proverbs’ 14 mentions of the word:
- How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?
- As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him.
- The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
- The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.
- The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth!
- A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.
- The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.
- The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!” or, “I will be murdered in the streets!”
- I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment;
- The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!”
- As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.
- The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
- The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.
It is clear that Solomon does not think much of sluggards, of lazy, idle, slothful people. According to his proverbs, sluggards do not plan or take initiative; they procrastinate and delude themselves about their own wisdom. Does this describe you?
While few would say yes, the preceding sluggardly characteristics are something that most of us struggle with upon occasion.
[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Proverbs 5-7 and today’s post is on Proverbs 6:6.]
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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