Characteristics of the lazy man
[Proverbs 26:13-16]
Personally, I think there are many things that we Christians lack. If I were asked to say three of them, I would say commitment, earnestness or desperateness, and sense of urgency. Mostly, when first generation adults talk about their children, second-generation, they say the second generation lacks "commitment." Not only the first generation adults say this, but also the second generation pastors who shepherds the second generation say the same thing. However, I don’t think that the lack of commitment is the only problem of second generation brothers and sisters in Christ. I think this is a problem for all of us, whether we are 1st generation or 1.5 generation. Generally speaking, we think that our commitment is poor. In addition to commitment, we Christians lack a lot of “earnestness”. Now we are not looking for God earnestly. Not long ago, while reading Zephaniah chapters 1 to 3 at the Morning Prayer meeting, my gaze stopped a little at 1:6 – “those who turn back from following the LORD and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him.” I was a little surprised when God said that He would judge the people of Judah in the day of God and that He would annihilate those who didn’t seek God and inquire of Him. When we think about why the people of Judah didn’t seek God or inquire of Him, the reason is because they were worshiping idols rather than worshiping God (vv. 4-5). So God told them in Zephaniah 2:3, “Seek the LORD, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the LORD'S anger.” God wants not only the people of Judah, but all of us Christians to humbly seek Him. What we lack, as well as commitment and earnestness, is "sense of urgency." We seem to be very easygoing until we are in a dire situation. Realizing the seriousness of the problem a little, we have to seek God earnestly to solve the problem with sense of urgency. But now we don’t have such a sense of urgency. We are just relaxed. Now we are stuck in a rut.
When I think about what is the cause of our lack of commitment, earnestness, and sense of urgency, I think the causes are selfishness, comfortism, and laziness. What is selfishness? Isn’t it self-boasting? Will we, who love ourselves, dedicate ourselves to love the Lord? I think that as time goes by, there will be fewer people who are dedicated to the Lord. This is because, as the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:2, people will love themselves in the last days. Therefore, we Christians also love ourselves more than we love the Lord and love the church that is the body of the Lord. That is why we are increasingly not serving the church. Because it is difficult for everyone to live and eat, eventually fewer and fewer people are volunteering for the church. Increasingly, we aren’t committed to the church. I think not only commitment but also earnestness. We who love ourselves seek our own comfort. We don’t try to suffer for the Lord. I think not only hedonism is dangerous, but also comfortism is very dangerous. The reason is because not only we don’t earnestly seek God, but also it makes us impossible to do so. Not long ago, while reading Jonah 4, I came to meditate on the words that God made a shade above Jonah so that Jonah could escape from the heat and comfort him (“to ease his discomfort”) (v. 6). At that time, the Bible says that Jonah was "very happy about the vine" (v, 6). While meditating around this word, I learned two lessons: (1) “It seems that I can’t complain because I am uncomfortable [discomfort (v.6)]. In particular, we must not be angry with God (v. 9). Our discomfort may be an opportunity to learn lesson from God-His concern (vv. 6, 11). “Laziness”, along with egoism and comfortism, negatively affects our commitment, earnestness, and sense of urgency. The reason for this is because “laziness” is also related to “selfishness”. The connection is ‘self-love, which is the root of laziness’ (Nam-jun Kim). The selfish person who loves himself never devotes himself to the Lord. He doesn’t have a desire to seek the Lord earnestly, nor does he live a life of faith with sense of urgency.
What is laziness? When I read an Internet article, this is what it says about laziness: It is because laziness is not whether we are moving or not but a question of ‘Aren't we doing what is important first or not. The psychiatrist named Yohan Moon says there are three types of laziness (Internet):
(1) The perfectionism type (the indecision type) laziness.
Most of the time, they waste all their time making very detailed plans or focusing on detailed preparations because of their disposition. They always seem busy on the outside, but they can’t tell what’s more important and what’s more urgent or not. You have to start studying for the exam right away. But in the meantime, you are wasting time meticulously arranging your desk and writing a nice time schedule with various colored pencils.
(2) The self-doubt type laziness.
They are always good at hesitating and procrastinating because they always question their abilities and blame themselves. It is a vicious cycle of self-doubt à anxiety à procrastinate à incomplete rationalization (next time, I will prepare more and will do it!) à self-criticism.
(3) The passive-aggressive type laziness.
They are unable to actively express or sublimate their antipathy towards the object they depend on (e.g., parents) and always passively express it. They seem polite on the outside, but they always procrastinate and act inefficiently about what is required, expressing their unconscious aggression. Unfortunately, they are people who try to upset the other person and destroy the other person's life by slowly turning their lives into failures. Compared to the above type, it looks rather casual.
Looking at the Naver Dictionary, it is said that people who are slow in behavior and have a temper or habit that hates to move or work are lazy people (Internet). In the original Hebrew, a lazy man refers to a person who is habitually lazy and inactive, suggesting he has no discipline or initiative, as a moral failure (Swanson). But when we look at the book of Proverbs, the lazy man doesn't seem to have just this meaning. For example, Proverbs 15:19 says, “The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.” Here, the Bible is making contrast between the sluggard and the upright. And in Proverbs 21:25-26, the Bible contrasts “the sluggard” who refuses to work with the “the righteous”. Also, in Proverbs 19:15, the Bible describes the lazy man as an “an idle man” or a person playing in idleness (Walvoord). Looking at this, it seems that the lazy man means a person who is habitually lazy and inactive, has no discipline, has no plan, and has moral failure, but also includes a man who is not honest before God or is an unrighteous person. That’s why the Bible Jeremiah 48:10 says, “A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD's work! …” (Jere. 48:10)
Laziness is a sin. The reason laziness is a sin is because we disobey God's commands. In particular, not using God-given talents but to go and dig the ground and hide the money of the owner (Mt.25:18) is a sin of receiving reproof from the Lord as a wicked and lazy slave (v. 26).
If we look at Proverbs 26:13-16, the Bible speaks of the lazy man. I would like to receive a lesson given to each of us by thinking about the characteristics of the lazy man based on Proverbs 26:13-16.
First, the characteristic of the lazy man is that he is good at making excuses.
Look at Proverbs 26:13 – “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!’” The road and the streets are places where people work. But if there are lions there, people wouldn't be able to go there. This is an excuse for people to be scared when trying to do something and to make excuses when they are not confident (Internet). As I meditated on this word, I looked at myself. And I confessed that when I felt scared, I made excuses for not doing the Lord's work. One of the excuses is that I didn't do the Lord's work because I thought, ‘Even if I did it, it would be useless’ as an excuse for fear of failure. I wondered why I did that, and the the reason was because I didn’t trust God completely and relied on my own understanding (3:5). Because I didn't have faith, I relied on my own understanding. And because I didn't have faith, I was afraid of failure. Nevertheless, the excuse I made habitually to the people around me was 'I don't have an adventurous spirit' even though I didn’t have courage and faith.
It is said that in a Chinese classic book, there is saying that people who cannot study because they don’t have time can’t even have time (Internet). In fact, we often give an excuse ‘I don’t have time to do it’ not only regarding study, but also other things as well. However, we should think at least once if this excuse is not because we are lazy. Here's an anecdote about the famous British essayist Charles Lamb: When he worked for a long time at a company in India, he wanted to be able to read the books that he wanted and want to spend his time on his own. On the day of retirement after years of work, he was delighted to be able to write and read freely without being bound by the company anymore. However, what he realized after retirement was that a person who is busy and has no time to write can't write even if he has time. It was only then that he realized that even good ideas came to mind while he was busy with work. He had developed a mind to abuse himself without knowing he had nothing to do (Internet).
If we look at Ecclesiastes 4:5, the Bible says: “The fool folds his hands and ruins himself.” What does it mean? It means that the fool folds his hands and ‘folding hands’ here means that the fool doesn’t work. This is consistent with Proverbs 21:25 – “The sluggard's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.” In other words, the lazy man hates working with his own hands. The Bible says that lazy man who doesn’t like to work with his own hands is a fool. This fool refuses to work which is his responsibility by making excuses. But the Bible John 15:22 says, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.” The fool has no excuse for his sin of making excuses and refusing to work. Now we have no excuses either. Since we have received the word of Proverbs 26:13 from the Lord, we can no longer make excuse for our sin of laziness. In other words, we learned that if we were no longer afraid and didn’t postpone the work of the Lord by making excuses like this or that, it would be an inexcusable sin in the sight of the Lord. What should we do?
When we look at Luke 9:57, there are people who made excuses. One of those who made excuses said to Jesus as follow: “I will follow You wherever You go.” So Jesus clearly said, "Follow Me" (v. 59). But one said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father” (v. 59) and another said, “"I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home” (v. 61). Then Jesus said these words: “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God” (v. 60) and “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (v. 62). We too should not hesitate to follow the Lord while looking back and making excuses like this or that.
We must now look back to ourselves to see if we are guilty of not doing the Lord's work, making excuses like this or that to Him. If we are committing such a sin now, we must confess our sins to God and repent. After that, we should no longer be afraid and make excuses. Rather we must boldly do the Lord’s work in faith.
Second, the characteristic of the lazy man is that he likes to sleep.
Look at Proverbs 26:14 – “As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.” This means that the lazy man circles on his bed. In other words, the lazy man likes to sleep while lying on the bed. Considering this in connection with verse 13, the reason that the lazy man doesn’t go to work with this or that excuse is because he wants to sleep a little more. So King Solomon says in Proverbs 6:9-11: “How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”
How many hours a day do you think it's good to sleep? According to one Internet site, it is recommended that children sleep 12 hours, teenagers 9 hours, and adults 7 hours 30 minutes or more. Not only insufficient sleep time is a problem, but also too long sleeping time is a problem. For example, there are times when we try to do something productive even by reducing our sleeping time. But such lack of sleep often decreases our work efficiency due to poor physical and mental functions. There are reports of research showing that if we don’t sleep for 4 hours than usual, the reaction speed is about 45% slower, and if we don’t sleep at all overnight, the reaction time becomes almost twice as long as usual. In addition, sleep deprivation, among other things, blurs our mental activity. In a state of lack of sleep, we will have difficulty solving new and complex problems that require creativity, wit, quickness, etc. In addition, it becomes dull and lifeless, and even a person who was cheerful because his mood subsides can easily become depressed and irritable or angry if he can't sleep for few days. Sleeping too much makes a person lethargic and saggy. So, hypersomnia, along with insomnia, is a major sign of depression. Therefore, it is more important to find our own proper sleep time and have regular sleeping habits rather than unconditionally reducing our sleep time to study or work, or extending our sleep time unconditionally to relieve fatigue. It is said that sleeping hours and habits that suit us well are essential remedies for the body (Internet).
In the Bible Isaiah 56:10, there are people who like to sleep. Those are the “Israel’s watchmen.” Look at Isaiah 56:10 – “Israel's watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.” What would happen if the watchmen who guarded the castle in the war against the enemy were the ones who lie down and those who like to sleep? In today's speaking, what if the soldiers in the military guard, who supposes to stand awake, lie down without standing guard, and like to sleep? The watchmen's role is to stay awake (Ps. 127:1) and stand on guard day and night (Neh. 4:9). And when they see the enemy coming, they must blow the trumpet of warning (Ezek. 33:6). But if the watchmen with such an important responsibility like to sleep, what will happen to the castle and the people in the castle by their enemy? Therefore, no one will make those who love to sleep as watchmen. Who will entrust his life to the watchmen who love to sleep?
When we look at Proverbs 23:21, this is what King Solomon says: “for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” In the context of this verse, the Bible is telling us not to associate with the drunkards. The reason is because the drunkards will become poor. Why do the drunkards become poor? The reason for this is because the drunkards will not only waste their possessions while living in debauchery (Eph. 5:18; Ref.: Luke 15), but also will be lazy and like to sleep (Prov. 23:21). That is why the Bible repeatedly says, 'Do not get drunk' (Eph. 5:18, Rom. 13:13, 1 Cor. 5:11, 6:10).
We should not like to sleep like the lazy man. Also, we must not be like the lazy man who doesn’t wake up at the time to wake up, doesn’t work at the time to work, and postpones it later. We should not live with the attitude of sleeping more and working later. We should not be people who don't blame ourselves for laziness and blame other things (situations, people, etc.). We should not like to sleep but should wake up and work diligently. The reason is because the night will come when we cannot work. Therefore, we must not play while working. And we should work diligently and should not like to sleep. Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we must diligently do God's work for His glory.
Third, the characteristic of the lazy man is that he hates to work.
Look at Proverbs 26:15 – “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.” The same word is found in Proverbs 19:24 – “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth!” Do you know the Aesop’s fable “The ant and grasshopper”? According to that famous story, the grasshopper sang and mocked the ant which worked hard in the summer: ‘Hey ant, is something wrong with your head? Why are you preparing food in summer for winter?’ Despite such ridicule, the ant worked very hard for cold winters, even in hot summer days. However, the grasshopper didn’t work every day and only sang. As a result, he had no food to eat in the winter so he begged for food. When I read this fable story as a child, I was taught that I should be like the ant, not the grasshopper. I learned that I must live diligently like the ant, not lazy like the grasshopper. However, as I grew older when I thought about this story, not only that I learned the lesson of being diligent like the ant, but also being wise in preparing for the future.
When we see a very young child, we see his mother puts food in a spoon and put it in his mouth. However, even though the young child grew up to some extent and he can eat food with a spoon on his own, what would you think if his mouther keeps on feeding him with the spoon and he just opens his mouth? This is what the Bible Proverbs 21:25 says: “The sluggard's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.” What does it mean? It means that the lazy man hates to work with his hands. So, in Proverbs 13:4, the Bible says, “The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” That means he cannot get what he desire because he is lazy and his hands are not working.
The lazy man not only doesn’t hunt for its catch (12:27), but also suffers from putting his hand in a bowl and raising it with his mouth (19:24, 26:15). Isn't it funny that if we want to eat meat, we have to hunt and catch an animal but we aren’t but just desiring it? Also, who is hungry and struggles to put his hand in a bowl and raise it with his mouth? So, like a baby, should someone feed you with a spoon? I think this is the culmination of laziness. I think that this is the laziness of the laziness. Regarding such lazy man, the Bible Proverbs 19:15 says that he is an “an idle man”, that is, a person who is idle and playing. In short, the lazy man hates working with his hands (21:25). As a result, poverty is inevitable for the lazy man. Poverty will come as if the victim was overwhelmed by a robber (24:33) (MacArthur).
Rather, the lazy man often makes problems. Look at 1 Timothy 5:11-13: “But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when they feel sensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married, thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their previous pledge. At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.” The lazy young widow goes from house to house, gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention. There were such foolish and lazy people in Thessalonica church. Look at 2 Thessalonians 3:10 – “… If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” During that time in the Thessalonians church, there were some who refused or even hated to work. The problem was that they didn’t work at all. They were idle. And they were busybodies (3:11). The reason why they didn’t work at all, but rather made work in the church, that is, the reason they didn’t work with their hands because they were foolishly lazy was because they had a wrong eschatology. In other words, because they had wrong eschatological hope, they were idle, didn’t work with their hands and were busybodies, making problem in the church. It is very dangerous to have such a false eschatology. It's not just a false eschatology. When we have a distorted view of belief, there are plenty of cases where we evade our responsibilities. One of the responsibilities we avoid is extremely common sense and is what we must do. In other words, if we have the wrong view of faith, we avoid the basic responsibility we ought to do. If we don't want to work, the Bible tells us not to eat. If we have the distorted view of faith, we can be loyal to the church and live busy life while playing and eating without working.
We must do the Lord's work diligently with the right view of faith. Of course, believing in Jesus is very important in the work of the Lord. But it is also important to serve the church that is the body of the Lord. We must humbly serve with God's grace. And we must serve with the wisdom that God gives us. In particular, we must serve the Lord's church with Immanuel faith, believing that God is with us (Hag 1:13, 2:4, 5). Also, we must strengthen ourselves (2:4), must not to be afraid (v. 5) and must serve the Lord's church.
Fourth and last, the characteristic of the lazy man is that he is wiser in his own eyes.
Look at Proverbs 26:16 – “The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.” We have already meditated on ‘being wiser in our own eyes’ based two verses in Proverbs:
(1) The first verse is Proverbs 3:7 – “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.”
When we rely on our own understanding, eventually we will be wise in our own eyes. In particular, when we manage our work by relying on our understanding and the work we were managing goes well, we often think that the work went well because we are wise. Those who rely on their understanding in this way consider themselves wise. Therefore, King Solomon is telling us not to consider ourselves wise. How is this possible? This is possible when we fear God. When we fear God, we can turn away from evil that we consider ourselves wise (v. 7). So we must fear God in order to turn away from evil. Because we fear God, we should not put our hearts in high places, but rather have our hearts in low places. In a word, the wise man who fears God is humble. Because we fear God, we must hate evil and be humble. God will raise the humble ones up and use them highly.
(2) The second verse is Proverbs 26:12 – “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
If this word is translated into the original Hebrew, it is as follows: ‘Do you see a man who considers himself wise with his own eyes? Have hope for he who is more foolish than him’ (Park). The reason why we think we are wise when we see ourselves with our eyes is because of pride. And the reason why we are proud is not only because we don’t teach ourselves by the word of God, but also we disobey His word, and love to teach others.
In Proverbs 26:16, the Bible again speaks about he who considers himself wise. And the Bible says he is the lazy person. When I meditate on this word, I think laziness and pride have something to do with it. Not only foolishness seems to be related to pride, but also laziness is related to pride (v. 12). In a word, the lazy man is proud. Not only that the lazy man doesn’t have discernment. When we look at Proverbs 26:16, we can see that the Proverbs writer contrasts the lazy man with the seven people who answer discreetly. When we see that contrast, the lazy man considers himself wiser than the seven men who answer discreetly, not only because he is proud, but also because he is a fool and has no discernment. Regarding this proud, foolish, indiscreet lazy man, Pastor John MacArthur said: “The ignorant are ignorant of their ignorance” (MacArthur). In Hebrews 5:2, the Bible says that such an ignorant lazy man “are going astray” (NIV) or “misguided” (NASB). In other words, the ignorant lazy man is deceived and falls into error.
We should not be this ignorant lazy people. We should never be foolish and lazy and live without discernment. Rather, we must become wise and diligent. We must become wise Christians with spiritual discernment. As we become wise Christians with spiritual discernment, we will take a thorough look at ourselves (Prov. 28:11). And we will continue to learn good lessons from God's word (1:5). Then our discernment will keep us and protect us (2:11).
We all must one day stand before the Lord and settle account (Mt. 25:19). The Lord has given us talents “each according to his ability” (v. 15). As we who each received talents from the Lord, we must faithfully bear our responsibilities and bear fruit (vv. 16-17). Therefore, we must be praised by the Lord, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (vv. 21, 23) We must not be rebuked by the Lord as “You wicked, lazy servant!” (v. 26) Today we meditated on four characteristics of the lazy man, based on Proverbs 26:13-16. We have learned that the lazy man is good at making excuses (v. 13), loves to sleep (v. 14), refuses to work (v. 15) and is wiser in his own eyes. I hope and pray that we don’t have these characteristics of the lazy man.