Posted on 03/25/2021 11:32:38 PM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets” (Proverbs 26:13).
Now, Solomon shifts his focus from the fool in order to consider the sluggard for a few verses. From this first verse, it appears that the slothful man will make any excuse, it doesn't matter how crazy it is, to get out of doing something. Imagine a guy laying around, saying, “Oh I can't go out today. I'm afraid. There's a lion in the streets.”
Did you know, Christian, that that lion is always out there in the streets? Peter says so, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). So, the spiritual sluggard recognizes the devil, and recognizes that he supposed to go and do right; in spite of the devil, but he's lazy. He doesn't pray, he doesn't put on the whole armor God, and he doesn't fortify himself in the word of God. He says, “Oh no! There's a lion in the streets! I'm staying in bed.”
The sluggard, the slothful man, is a subject touched on often throughout the Proverbs; and that’s something else you don't want to be. I suppose that if we were willing to admit it, that most of us would have to say that there are times that we can be pretty lazy spiritually. It sure is easy not to pray. It sure is easy not to read your Bible every day in a thoughtful, understanding, nourishing manner. Often, it's hard enough to read it through dutifully just making the check marks. It is really easy to not read it with understanding and going through carefully and trying to hear the voice of God through the process. When it all comes down to it, you say, “Well, I'm really busy.” No, you're really lazy.
You may not be lazy in life, generally. You may work your fingers to the bone; but, one of our greatest maladies, I suppose, is the fact that we are often spiritually lazy. It's slothfulness. There are things that you know you need to do, and it takes energy to do them; and you just don't do them because it's easier to not do them.
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Would Solomon call Socrates a sluggard?
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