What comes to mind when you think of someone who is lazy? Perhaps someone who avoids work, someone who shirks responsibility, or maybe someone who lounges in the appropriately named recliner. No doubt when you think of someone who is lazy, you think of the lack of activity, but perhaps you don’t immediately think of the consequences. This week’s Proverb tell us that the “lazy person is a as bad as someone who destroys things.” How can you destroy something by being lazy or not doing anything? 

 

A couple of years ago, I bought a bicycle. (many of you already know where this is going!).  For a few months, I rode the bike regularly, kept it clean, adjusted the gears and kept the tires properly inflated. It wasn’t a bike that I had to finance, but wasn’t a disposable one either. It was a nice bike and a pleasure to ride. It was a nice bike. Was? Yes. What happened? Nothing. Nothing happened and that is the problem. The bike has been in the garage for a couple of years now without a rider. The tires are flat, it is dirty and the gears don’t function well. Arguably it has been destroyed from its previous state by doing nothing. 

 

There are consequences of neglect. James tells us to :  “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”  James 4:17 NLT.  There are sins of commission, things we do, and sins of omission, things we should do and do not. Destruction can occur by things we do, but it can also occur by being lazy and not doing what needs to be done. 

 

Is there something that you know that you should be doing?  Don’t let neglect destroy it. It could be a relationship, it could be a job, or it could be something that God has entrusted to your care. 

 

This week don’t be lazy, make plans to do what you know needs to be done. If you don’t, it will become increasingly unlikely that you ever will. 

 

In His Hands, 

 

John