Get Up And Do It - Laziness

Let’s pretend that you invested time and money into an event.

You made sure all the details were perfect and everything was planned out.

Then, when the time comes, you don’t go to the event because it would be too much work.

Hi!

I’m Jon Winkelman, your spiritual fitness coach, and today we are going to talk about Laziness.

The Bible has a lot to say about laziness.

The interesting thing is that almost everything it has to say on the topic is found in only one book of the Bible. The book of Proverbs.

Proverbs chapter 12 verse 27 says this.

Proverbs 12:27 ESV

27 Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

This word “slothful” can also be translated “lazy’.

The lazy person will do all the work of hunting something down, but will not actually prepare it for food.

Why not? The implication is that it is simply too much work.

Laziness is difficult to identify and deal with because it so often masquerades as something else.

In this instance, if scripture didn’t tell us that this was laziness, we might call it, procrastination.

Not all procrastination is laziness, but it can be a symptom.

Proverbs 24:30-34 gives us another example

Proverbs 24:30–34 ESV

30 I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, 31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. 32 Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Notice that this individual only wanted a “little” sleep, a “little” slumber.

But that little turned into a lifestyle.

The result was a vineyard that was overgrown, ground covered in nettles, and a stone wall that had fallen into disrepair.

This is how laziness gets its grip. Those little compromises that we make.

We know we should weed the garden, but we’re just so tired, maybe tomorrow.

I know I need to fix that loose stone in the wall, but I just can’t do it right now.

Before we know it, those little breaks become a way of life.

I know exactly how this can go, because I have struggled with it in my own life.

I have a project to do, but I’m just going to pick up my phone for a second, and then hours have slipped by.

Proverbs 13:4 tells us this.

Proverbs 13:4 ESV

4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

The solution to laziness is doing something!

Don’t just have a desire to do something, get up and get busy doing it!

I have found that the best solution for my own temptation to laziness is to do the hard thing right away.

Don’t promise yourself you will get to it after a break.

Do what needs doing, then take the break.

I believe that is the point of all these proverbs.

Do something.

Move.

Act.

If we are going to win today over laziness, we have to face the task, get up, and do it.

Do the work first, take the break after the work is done.