Are You Lazy?

“Don’t love sleep, or you will become poor; open your eyes, and you’ll have enough to eat.”
Proverbs 20:13 CSB

Have you heard of the phrase “quiet quitting”? It has become a thing! If you haven’t heard about it, let me give you a quick definition; quiet quitting is completing one’s minimum work requirements without ever going above and beyond or doing anything extra. In other words, it means I figure out the least amount I would need to do to not get fired from my job, and that’s the most work I will ever do. Our culture has bought into the idea that the less work I do the better. This mentality is not something that comes from God’s plan for us. If we stop and think about when God created Adam and Eve in the garden, he created them for a relationship with himself and with a job in mind for them, and that was before they sinned (Genesis 2:15,16). After they sinned the change to their work was that it become more backbreaking work and things only produced when lots of hard work was involved.
As I have been reading through Proverbs, I have been reminded of the correlation between hard work and reward. When I say reward, I mean payment, having more than just enough, and getting far enough ahead that we are able to help others. I don’t believe that God ever intended for us to do the bare minimum; I believe he wanted us to do our best. 1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” So we are to do our work to bring honor and glory to the one who made us and gave us the ability to do the work.
It is easy to become lazy; it is easy to look for ways to have to do less. Proverbs 20:13 says we come to the point where we “love sleep,” and our love of sleep makes us miss out on opportunities to provide food for ourselves and get ahead. So, let me wrap up today with these questions. Have you been trying to get through life doing the least amount possible? Or are you determined to do whatever it takes to provide appropriately for your family and bring honor to God?

-Pastor Tim