This cut me to the heart. I think it may some of you. Yes even you my brother. It is worth reading all the way thru. Written by my Pastor Friend Olufunso Omadarian from Nigera. Color for HIGHLITES are MINE!
I have to get to work. So do YOU!
I have to get to work. So do YOU!
A LITTLE SLEEP, A LITTLE SLUMBER
We will take our thought from the book of Proverbs.
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. Pro.6:9-11
A careful look at our text shows that a sluggard is given to sleep. A sluggard is a lazy or slothful man. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arm to sleep…everything comes as a little thing. A lazy man folds his arm to sleep, because he does not like to play a productive role in the race of life. The Lord is sounding it clear to anyone who cares to learn that laziness is an evil cankerworm that we must hate with every fibre of our soul. There is absolutely no blessing in being lazy as we can find here:
4 ¶ He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.Pro.10:4
A lazy man deals with a slack hand, even in the most vital and pertinent issues of life.
Besides, a sluggard has no future. He is accursed, in whatever form he may want to excuse himself.
24 ¶ The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. Pro.12:24
A sluggard is simply hopeless in life. He should not be expected to make any headway, unless if he changes his way.
4 ¶ The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. Pro. 13:4
JUST A LITTLE SLEEP
Upon a careful look at the Scriptures, it seems sleep is a regular feature of a lazy person. The Spirit of the Lord will show us a little more on this.
15 ¶ Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. Pro 19:15
13 ¶ Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread. Pro 20:13
Slothfulness casts a man into a deep sleep, he does not just want to do anything but to sleep and sleep! The Bible also says to not love sleep. Is it then an offence to sleep at all? Not so sir! We need to understand some ominous effect of sleep however. Sleep is a common denominator in all kinds of laziness. For instance, some people are mentally lazy; they don’t want to engage their minds in productive and value-added thinking in life. Great achievers are usually great thinkers. All great efforts or achievements are often products of some thought. Mental laziness is the most innate form of laziness; a mentally lazy fellow is asleep in mind, even when a good thought or initiative comes to their mind, another immediate counter thought of impossibility or possible attack comes to their mind.
Pr 22:13 ¶ The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
Pr 26:13 ¶ The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets
A negative thought always comes to cast a limitation to a possible step of progress. Kindly ask yourself, ‘how many divinely granted inspirations have I aborted through my unbelief and fear’? Thus, a lazy man is a risk-averter; they always give excuses to avoid taking needful risks. On the other hand, all those who have made productive impact upon their generation are risk-takers. It is very risky to dare to be a success, you know. The common overall result of all forms of laziness is poverty as we have found in the previous Bile verses- Pro. 13:4; 19:15; 20:13.
Nonetheless, God does not call us to overwork ourselves, He Himself worked for six days and rested on the seventh. In fact, there is no blessing in being a mere workaholic. It drains strength from one and ultimately renders the person unfit for the next work. There is always a next work to do. We need rest. We need to sleep. Sleep is a gift from God, if used in its right perspective.
1 ¶ Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Psa. 127:1,2
Moreover, the Lord does not want us to be so full works that we fail to depend on Him for His blessing. While it is a vain thing to keep working without having God’s favour upon our lives and works, it is also a curse to be a sluggard in life. Some people do rise up very early for work and come back home so late and always earn so little. The Bible says this is a vain thing. Some others don’t even like to rise up for work, they love pleasure and beautiful things; they always look for easy money and don’t love to take challenges. They are lazy drones! No wonder, some became thieves and deceivers because they refused to be engaged in legitimate jobs.
Begging is another attribute of a pathological sluggard. A Sluggard will end up as a beggar. Some people have become habitual beggars and have thus become social misfits or nuisance.
Pr 20:4 ¶ The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing
This is simply showing us that begging is a curse. Some became beggars today because they refused to work beforehand. Begging is a cheap hideout or escape route for those who lack the virtue of working hard.
OUR SAFE HAVEN
In the midst of the two extremes (laziness and overworking) lies the perfect will of God for His children. We are to draw a balance. That is wisdom, so to speak. We need to work and we must work very well; we also need to rest after a well-done work. In divine agenda, work precedes rest. If you haven’t worked, don’t rest! Remember, God also rested on the seventh day, after six days of working.
Rest is a virtue; yes taking our rest is good. In fact a rest or sleep adds more value to our labours in life, but not vise versa. If we make sleep our main business in life, we are doomed. A lot of things will not just take shape if we do not put our potentials to work.
Do not rest before your time. It is dangerous. It could make you a slave under tribute. God forbid!
14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. Gen 49:14,15
We must be determined to be the best the Lord has ordained for us to be in life. The Lord has instructed us to occupy till He comes. This is an absolute requirement for anybody who wants to be successful in any area of life. Our attitude should express our readiness to become what we are called to be. In other words, we are to be diligent to make our calling and election sure, for indeed we have been called and elected according to His grace, but we have a role to play in God’s prophetic agenda for our life (2Pet.1:10).
The Lord wants all of His children to be actively involved in every bit of work that will cause them to be found in the center of His will. There is a work the Lord is bound to do, for as much and for as long as you are available at your duty posts in life. God is glorified in us as we labour in accordance with His eternal purpose for our lives. This ramifies all aspects of existence- be it spiritually, materially, martially, intellectually, financially, socially or otherwise. Amen.
YOU ARE TALENTED; IN FACT YOU ARE A TALENT!
Whether, you are cognizant of it or not, you have been endowed with one talent or the other. The clock keeps ticking and ticking. You will soon be called to give account of what you have done with every gift of grace in your life. They are meant to be put to work. Do not forget that you have a contribution to make on earth, that’s why you are still alive. The cumulative effect of your life and existence is of eternal consequence.
As New Testament believers, we must take heed to every instruction of the Lord for us in His Word. God does not reckon with lazy souls. He does not commit enduring treasures to a ‘wicked and slothful servant’. Despite the fact that he was entrusted with only one talent, he still proved irresponsible and unreliable. A lazy man is a waster (Mat. 25:14-30).
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mat.25:26-30
The parable of the talents gives us a graphical picture of God’s principle and expectation for His servants. We are all here on earth on trust as stewards. We shall give account of all we do. There are lots of things that we can possibly do and achieve on behalf of the One who called us. The will of God is further expressed by this exhortation:
11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rom12:11
This truth touches all aspects of life, as we have already affirmed. There is no excuse for laziness. All slothful souls will regret at the end of the day. There is something called dignity of labour. Let us all rejoice in the fact that God has enabled us to make meaningful contributions to the overall advancement of humanity. God is glorified as well.
Dr Olufunso J Omidiran
LIVING SWORD MINISTRIES INT'L (Healing unto the Nations)
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