The book of Proverbs opens with a stern warning began His public ministry, Jesus worked as a carpenter
Proverbs could work but won't, the people who consume what others produce but produce nothing for others to use. The "sluggard" and the "slothful man" are mentioned at least seventeen times in Proverbs, and nothing good is said about them.
gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!" (Prov. 16:16; see 2:1–5; 3:13–15; 8:10–21) This is Solomon's version of Matthew 6:33; he's reminding us that while it is good to have the things money can buy, be sure you don't lose the things money can't buy.
We need to recognize the fact that work is not a curse. God gave Adam work to do in the Garden even before sin entered the scene (Gen. 2:15). Before He began His public ministry, Jesus worked as a carpenter (Mark 6:3); the apostle Paul was a tentmaker (Acts 18:1–3). In that day, rabbis had vocations and supported themselves but didn't accept payment from their students. When we engage in honorable employment we're cooperating with God in caring for and using His creation, we're helping to provide for others, and we're growing in character. The work God has called us to do ought to nourish us (John 4:34), not tear us down; "the laborer is worthy of his hire" (Luke 10:7; 1 Tim. 5:18). What are some of the marks of sluggards? For one thing, they love to sleep. "How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?" (Prov. 6:9 niv). "As a door turns on its hinges, so does the lazy man on his bed" (26:14). Lots of motion—but no progress!
1. The Thieves The book of Proverbs opens with a stern warning against participating in get-rich-quick schemes that involve breaking the law (Prov. 1:10–19). These schemes are self-destructive and lead to bondage and possibly the grave. Beware of people who promise to make you wealthy without asking you to work or take any risks. "Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but the one who gathers by labor increases it" (13:11 nasb). "A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, and does not consider that poverty will come upon him" (28:22 nkjv). "Ill gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death" (10:2 niv).
Proverbs 21:5–7 points out three ways not to get wealth: following hasty schemes (v. 5), lying to people (v. 6), and robbing (v. 7). Most if not all get-rich-quick schemes involve some kind of deception and are nothing but scams.1 Unfortunately, even God's people have been duped by scam artists, and more than one trusting soul has lost his or her life savings in a "sure thing" that turned out to be a sure loser. However, scams wouldn't succeed if there weren't people eager to get rich as quickly and easily as possible. But, as the old adage puts it, "There are no free lunches." You take what you want from life, but eventually you pay for it.
Sleep is a necessary element for a healthy life, but too much sleep is destructive. Wise people enjoy sleep that's "sweet" (3:24) because they know they're in God's will, and the laborer's sleep is "sweet" because he or she has worked hard (Eccl. 5:12), but the sleep of the sluggard is a mark of selfishness and laziness. "Laziness could run a competitive race for the most underrated sin," write Ronald Sailler and David Wyrtzen in The Practice of Wisdom (Chicago: Moody, 1992). "Quietly it anesthetizes its victim into a lifeless stupor that ends in hunger, bondage and death" (82).
God demands that we be honest in all our business dealings. Dishonesty is robbery. "Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight" (11:1 nkjv; see 16:11; 20:10, 23). Moses commanded in the law that the people use honest weights and measures (Lev 19:35–36; Deut. 25:13–16); since Israel didn't have an official Department of Standards to check on these things, the law wasn't always obeyed. Amos accused the merchants in his day of "skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales" (Amos 8:5 niv); Micah asked, "Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?" (Mic. 6:11).
Put the sluggard to work and he's more of a nuisance than a help. "As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him" (Prov. 10:26). Vinegar on the teeth and smoke in the eyes aren't necessarily lethal, but they do irritate you; so does a sluggard who won't get the job done. All he does is dream about the things he wants to enjoy, but he won't work hard enough to earn them. "The sluggard's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work" (21:25 niv). Dreams become nightmares if you don't discipline yourself to work.
Another dishonest way to get wealth is to use your resources selfishly and disregard the needs of others. "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell" (Prov. 11:25–26 niv). In times of drought and famine, a prosperous farmer could corner the grain market and become rich at the expense of his needy neighbors (see Neh. 5). We need to realize that everything we have comes from God (1 Cor. 4.7; John 3:27) and that we are but stewards of His wealth. While everyone expects that a businessman will make a profit, nobody wants him to "make a killing" and hurt others.
Another mark of the sluggard is a know-it-all attitude. "The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly" (26:16 nkjv). He lives in a fantasy world that prevents him from being a useful part of the real world (13:4; 21:25–26), but he can tell everybody else what to do. He's never succeeded at anything in his own life, but he can tell others how to succeed.
Sluggards are good at making excuses. Either the weather is too cold for plowing (20:4), or it's too dangerous to go out of the house (22:13; 26:13). "The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of
The biggest thieves of all are the lazy people who