Proverb A Day, Proverb 6 [Prayer and Meditation]

Bible NKJV ^ | 900 B.C. | Solomon

[OneVike]

Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,
Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler,
Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.
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.

Bible verses about laziness

I'm sharing this with you from Bible Reasons

I would like to start off by saying that some people are struggling with laziness, but it’s not because they choose to be slothful. Some people are always tired because of a bad sleeping pattern, sleep deprivation, bad eating, thyroid problems, lack of exercise, etc. If anyone is having trouble with fighting laziness. Check out these things first.

Scripture has a lot to say on this topic. Clearly we see that laziness is a sin and it also leads to poverty.

Some people would rather sleep in their bed all day rather than making a living and that will be their downfall. Laziness is a curse, but work is a blessing.

God worked for 6 days and on the 7th day He rested. God put Adam in the garden to work and take care of it. God provides for us through work. Since the beginning we were commanded to work.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”

Being a sloth brings down your confidence and motivation. Slowly you start growing a bum mentality. It can soon turn into a disastrous lifestyle for some.

We have to grasp the concept of working hard. There is always something to do, but sometimes we would rather procrastinate. The gospel always needs to be preached.

Work hard in everything you do because working always brings profit, but too much sleep brings disappointment and shame. When you’re lazy not only do you suffer, but other people suffer as a result of it. Work to help others. Ask the Lord to strengthen your hands and to remove any slothfulness in your body.

 

Quotes

• “Hard work pays off in the future but laziness pays off now.”
• “Many say they can’t get God’s guidance, when they really mean they wish He would show them an easier way.” Winkie Pratney
• “A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.” John Henry Newman
• “Laziness may appear attractive but work gives satisfaction.” Anne Frank

 

The 3 types of laziness.

Physical – Neglecting work and duties.

Mental – Common among kids in school. Taking the easy way out. Trying to take shortcuts. Get rich quick schemes.

Spiritual – Neglecting to pray, read Scripture, use God-given talents, etc.

 

What does the Bible say?

1. Proverbs 15:19 The path of lazy people is like a thorny hedge, but the road of decent people is an [open] highway.

2. Proverbs 26:14-16 Like a door on its hinges, a lazy man turns back and forth on his bed. Lazy people are too lazy to lift the food from their plate to their mouth. Lazy people think they are seven times smarter than the people who really have good sense.

3. Proverbs 18:9 Whoever is lazy regarding his work is also a brother to the master of destruction.

4. Proverbs 10:26-27 Lazy people irritate their employers, like vinegar to the teeth or smoke in the eyes. Fear of the LORD lengthens one’s life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

5. Ezekiel 16:49 Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door.

 

Follow the example of the ant.

6. Proverbs 6:6-9 You lazy people, you should watch what the ants do and learn from them. Ants have no ruler, no boss, and no leader. But in the summer, ants gather all of their food and save it. So when winter comes, there is plenty to eat. You lazy people, how long are you going to lie there? When will you get up?

 

We are to put off laziness and we are to be hard workers.

7. Proverbs 10:4-5 Lazy hands bring poverty, but hard-working hands lead to wealth. Whoever harvests during summer acts wisely, but the son who sleeps during harvest is disgraceful.

8. Proverbs 13:4 The appetite of the sluggard craves but gets nothing, but the desire of the diligent will be abundantly satisfied.

9. Proverbs 12:27 The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.

10. Proverbs 12:24 Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave.

 

Poverty is the result of the continuous sin of laziness.

11. Proverbs 20:13 If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat!

12. Proverbs 21:5 Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

13. Proverbs 21:25 Despite their desires, the lazy will come to ruin, for their hands refuse to work.

14. Proverbs 20:4 The slacker does not plow during planting season; at harvest time he looks, and there is nothing.

15. Proverbs 19:15 Laziness throws one into a deep sleep, and an idle person will go hungry.

16. 1 Timothy 5:8 If anyone does not take care of his own relatives, especially his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

 

A godly woman is not lazy.

17. Proverbs 31:13 “She seeks out wool and linen [with care] and works with willing hands.”

18. Proverbs 31:16-17 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

19. Proverbs 31:19 Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber.

 

Reminders

20. Ephesians 5:15-16 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

21. Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people.

22. 1 Thessalonians 4:11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you.

23. Ephesians 4:28 The thief must no longer steal. Instead, he must do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

 

Slothfulness leads to procrastination and excuses.

24. Proverbs 22:13 The slacker says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!”

25. Proverbs 26:13 The lazy person claims, “There is a lion in the road! There’s a lion in the streets!”

 

Bonus

Matthew 25:24-30 Then the servant who had been given one bag of gold came to the master and said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a hard man. You harvest things you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not sow any seed. So I was afraid and went and hid your money in the ground. Here is your bag of gold. The master answered, ‘You are a wicked and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest things I did not plant and that I gather crops where I did not sow any seed. So you should have put my gold in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would have received my gold back with interest. “So the master told his other servants, ‘Take the bag of gold from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags of gold. Those who have much will get more, and they will have much more than they need. But those who do not have much will have everything taken away from them.’ Then the master said, ‘Throw that useless servant outside, into the darkness where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’

Proverb 6 (NKJV)

Dangerous Promises

Seven Deadly Sins

01 My son, if you become surety for your friend,
00 If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
02 You are snared by the words of your mouth;
00 You are taken by the words of your mouth.
03 So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;
00 For you have come into the hand of your friend:
00 Go and humble yourself;
00 Plead with your friend.
04 Give no sleep to your eyes,
00 Nor slumber to your eyelids.
05 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
00 And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

The Folly of Indolence

06 Go to the ant, you sluggard!
00 Consider her ways and be wise,
07 Which, having no captain,
00 Overseer or ruler,
08 Provides her supplies in the summer,
00 And gathers her food in the harvest.
09 How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
00 When will you rise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
00 A little folding of the hands to sleep--
11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
00 And your need like an armed man.

The Wicked Man

12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
00 Walks with a perverse mouth;
13 He winks with his eyes,
00 He shuffles his feet,
00 He points with his fingers;
14 Perversity is in his heart,
00 He devises evil continually,
00 He sows discord.
15 Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly;
00 Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.

16 These six things the LORD hates,
00 Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
00 A lying tongue,
00 Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
00 Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
00 And one who sows discord among brethren.

Beware of Adultery

20 My son, keep your father's command,
00 And do not forsake the law of your mother.
21 Bind them continually upon your heart;
00 Tie them around your neck.
22 When you roam, they will lead you;
00 When you sleep, they will keep you;
00 And when you awake, they will speak with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp,
00 And the law a light;
00 Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
24 To keep you from the evil woman,
00 From the flattering tongue of a seductress.
25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart,
00 Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
26 For by means of a harlot
00 A man is reduced to a crust of bread;
00 And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.
27 Can a man take fire to his bosom,
00 And his clothes not be burned?
28 Can one walk on hot coals,
00 And his feet not be seared?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
00 Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

30 People do not despise a thief
00 If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.
31 Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold;
00 He may have to give up all the substance of his house.
32 Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding;
00 He who does so destroys his own soul.
33 Wounds and dishonor he will get,
00 And his reproach will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy is a husband's fury;
00 Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will accept no recompense,
00 Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.

[OneVike]

[OneVike]

A cool animated gif, and 25 verses
from the Bible that speak of laziness.

Send FReep Mail to OneVike to get
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[EliRoom8]

B-R-A-V-O!!!! Very, very good work.

[EliRoom8]

One of the best commentaries written on Proverbs was produced 300 years ago by Charles Bridges. Here’s just a small excerpt on this portion of God’s Holy Word:

‘It is a shame’ — said the heathen philosopher — ‘not to learn morals from the small animals.’† Yet what a proof is it of the degradation of the fall, that “man, created in the image of God,” and made wiser than the creation (Genesis 1:26. Job 35:11), should be sent, as here, to this insignificant school for instruction! The ant, having no guide to direct her work, no overseer to inspect her, or ruler to call her to account (Compare chapter 30:27, and contrast Exodus 5:13, 14; 1 Kings 5:16); yet gathereth with diligent foresight the summer and harvest store for her winter need.† Let the sluggard consider her ways, and be wise. He sleeps over his work, and, if for a moment half-startled by some rousing call, still pleads for a little more sleep, and folds his hands to sleep. Present ease is all he calculates on, all he provides for. The future he carefully keeps out of sight, to be provided for, like the present, when it comes.

OneVike —Please continue this series. You honor His Word by doing so.

[NEWwoman]

Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,

I remember this as a punchline in an old Peanuts cartoon.

[OneVike]

Thank you much. I have heard of Charles Bridges, but never read anything by him. I will look up his writings. The more sources I have the better my knowledge of the Word gets, and the better I can present commentaries.

Would you like to be added to my ping list?

[OneVike]

I missed that episode. However, I bet it was Linus who used the Proverb.

Am I right?

He always seemed to be the smartest and most well read. Even though he is an insecure thumb sucker with a strong attachment to his blanket.

[dsc]

The question I struggle with is, how old and sick do you have to be before you are no longer lazy, but just old and sick?

[OneVike]

Depends I guess. If laziness lasts long enough I am guessing a person would have seen a Dr eventually.

Most people who have a medical problem, want to be active, the true slugs just don’t want to do anything.

As for getting older, well I would look at a persons life before they retired to understand if they are lazy, or just old.

I have known people who have medical problems that keeps them from being as active as they would like to be, however, their home is kept up and clean.

True lazy slugs don’t even spend the proper time needed to keep their home clean or their yard looking good.

[NEWwoman]

That’s my memory.

[dsc]

“As for getting older, well I would look at a persons life before they retired to understand if they are lazy, or just old.”

So, if a guy worked 16 hour days 28 days a month for 20 years, probably not lazy. Is that what you mean?