You Lazy Bum!

by Bryan Gibson

February 27, 2009

You might prefer the term sluggard, one that the Bible uses on several occasions. A sluggard is a lazy person, one who works hard to get out of work. The Bible has quite a bit to say about the sluggard, and none of it is good. Read carefully the following characteristics of a sluggard, just to make sure you don’t fit the description.

A sluggard sleeps too much; he sleeps when he should be working. “How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:9-11). “Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread” (Proverbs 20:13).

You need your rest, but when you show up late for work, or maybe miss work entirely because you’re “sleeping in,” you’ve got a problem.

A sluggard talks when he should be working. “In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23).

It is okay to talk while you work; just don’t let it take the place of work.

A sluggard makes excuses to get out of work, excuses that sometimes border on the ridiculous. The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!” (Proverbs 22:13), or, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!” (Proverbs 26:13).

You may not always feel just right; conditions may be not always be perfect, but you may just have to work in spite of all that.

A sluggard is not nearly as smart as he thinks he is. “The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly” (Proverbs 26:16).

Don’t be the person who tells everyone else how to do it, but is unwilling to do it himself.

A sluggard follows after frivolity—he likes to goof off. “He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, but he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding” (Proverbs 12:11). “He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough! (Proverbs 28:19).

If you’ve got enough energy to goof off, then you’ve got enough to work.

A sluggard, then, is a big source of irritation to others. “As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the lazy man to those who send him” (Proverbs 10:26).

The Lord has no use for laziness. Work hard, for in doing so, you’ll be a blessing in the workplace, and more importantly, in the kingdom of God.