as we continue our study in God's wisdom for
our world. Today talking about living with diligence.
I'm going to ask you to open your Bible to Proverbs,
the 12th chapter. Thank you worship team so magnificently
leading us in worship this morning. Proverbs
chapter 12, I'll read verses 24 and 27. Diligent
hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.
The lazy man does not roast his game, but the
diligent man prizes his possessions. Then chapter
13 and verse 4. The sluggard craves and gets
nothing. but the desires of the diligent are
fully satisfied. I remember my first meeting
with a slug. I had always thought the slugs were
cousins of snipes. Until one occasion as a young
man I was walking along a pathway in northwestern
Washington at a youth camp one evening when my
foot slid out from underneath me. And I looked
down to see what I had stepped on and realized
I had stepped on a slug. For the first time I
saw a small mollusk that does not have a shell
or at least an external one. And because of that,
when they are stepped on, they do make a mess.
Slugs are noted for moving very slowly. They
are related to the land snail. It is from that
picture of the slug that we get our English word,
the sluggard. The word sluggard comes from a
Middle English origin, a word that is pronounced
sluggy, and was used in that day of one who was
slow and clumsy. And so a sluggard is one who
is habitually lazy, slothful, and inactive. Proverbs
gives us several snapshots of sluggards and in
all of them there is a certain poking of fun,
a ridiculing of the one who is a sluggard. For
example, look in chapter 20 and verse 4 of Proverbs
where it says, a sluggard does not plow in season,
so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.
So you see the man that goes out to his fields
at harvest time and expecting to find there some
crops and then realizes that he forgot to plow
in the spring and plant and take care of the
crop. He was too lazy to plow and therefore there's
nothing in his field. Chapter 21, verses 25 and
26. The sluggard's craving will be the death
of him. because his hands refuse to work. All
day long he craves for more, but the righteous
give without sparing. It reminds me of the farmer
who put up a sign at the entrance of his pasture
that said, hunters, please don't shoot anything
on my place that isn't moving. It might be my
hard hand. The sluggard's craving will be the
death of him. His hands refuse to work. He expects
others to do his work for him and then to care
for his needs. What we have here is the heart
of a welfare society. In chapter 26, we have
additional pictures. Verse 13, the sluggard says,
there's a lion in the road. A fierce lion is
roaming in the streets. Was there really? No.
But the sluggard didn't want to do his work.
And so he thought of an excuse, however far -fetched
it might be. There was a farmer whose barn had
fallen down, and a man came by and asked him
what happened. And he said, well, it rained and
just collapsed. He said, why didn't you do something
to strengthen your barn before it rained so hard?
The farmer said, well, I thought about it, but
I never did get around to it. When the weather
was good, There weren't no need for it, and when
it rained it was too wet to work on. The sluggard
always has a reason why the work isn't done.
Verse 14. As a door turns on its hinges, so a
sluggard turns on his bed. Can you see him there?
His nail to his bed, flopping back and forth,
back and forth. It's time to get up. I'm getting
up. And he turns over. The story is told about
a sailor who was in a good mood one day and went
into his barracks and said, I'll give a dollar
to the laziest man here. And all the men jumped
up except for one man who just laid on his bed.
He was a Texan. And he drawled out, just rolled
me over and slip it in my pocket. He got the
dollar. Look at the next verse. The sluggard
buries his hand in the dish. he is too lazy to
bring it back to his mouth. He's eating nachos.
And he dips that corn chip down in that cheese,
but he just can't get it back to his mouth to
save his life. He just can't. He's like the guy
who thinks it's too much trouble to make coffee,
and so he sprinkles instant coffee crystals on
his mustache and then sips the water. The next
verse. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
than seven men who answer discreetly. He's always
got an answer. There's always an argument as
to why this can happen or why that can't happen.
A sluggard went to see his doctor, and he said,
Doctor, now that you've examined me, tell me
in plain language what's wrong with me. The doctor
said, do you want it straight? He said, sure
do. He said, you're just plain lazy. He said,
well okay, now give me the medical term so I
can tell my wife. The sluggard is always looking
for the right answer. He's got an argument for
every situation. The opposite of the sluggard,
of course, is the diligent man the Proverbs talks
about. Diligence comes from a Hebrew verb that
means to cut or to sharpen. The diligent man
is one who is sharp, who is keen, or we might
say he's one who keeps himself on the cutting
edge of where the action is. The person who lives
with diligence gets the most out of life. That's
a fact. The person who is diligent gets the most
out of life. What does he receive? Well, notice
with me what he receives as we look again at
the book of Proverbs. His efforts result in satisfaction.
He receives satisfaction. Again, look in chapter
13 and verse 4. The sluggard craves and gets
nothing but the desires of the diligent are fully
satisfied. His willingness to work hard produces
gratifying results. He knows contentedness, not
that he receives everything he ever wanted. But
his goals being set are usually achieved through
persistent work. By being tenacious and sticking
at it, he's industrious, he is studious, he is
enterprising, and so his efforts result in satisfaction.
But not so the one who is lazy. The one who is
lazy will rarely begin something. And if he does,
he's unlikely to finish it. And he rationalizes
his laziness. Look back at chapter 6 with me.
And notice verses 9 and 10. How long will you
lie there, you sluggard? Now, that might come
in handy tomorrow morning. When will you get
up from your sleep? And here's what he says.
A little sleep. A little slumber. A little folding
of the hands to rest. Oh, just five minutes more.
And poverty will come on you, says the writer,
like a bandit, and scarcity like an armed man.
Does the lazy person find satisfaction in life?
Not hardly. He robs himself of satisfaction because
he won't begin something, and if he does, he
won't finish it. And then he has all kinds of
excuses why the job isn't done. There's a fundamental
flaw in character, in laziness. Real fulfillment
is found in being self -disciplined and internally
motivated. Consider the kind of satisfaction
that these people must have enjoyed. Take for
example Adam Clark, who wrote a large commentary
on the Bible. It's reported that it took Clark
40 years to write out his commentary. Noah Webster
labored 36 years forming his dictionary. John
Milton rose at four o 'clock every morning in
order to have sufficient hours to compose and
then to rewrite his poetry, which of course stands
among the best of the world's literature. Gibbon
spent 26 years researching and writing his book,
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a classic.
And Bryant is reported to have rewritten one
of his poems a hundred times, a hundred times
before he would allow it to be published so that
he could attain complete beauty and perfection
of expression. Diligence. Diligence. It is when
we are diligent that we find our efforts resulting
in satisfaction. Why else does the diligent man
receive the best from life? It's because his
increase, secondly, his increase results in self
-reliance. He receives satisfaction from the
hard effort he's put into something, and at the
end of it, he sees it's worth it. But secondly,
his increase results in his being self -reliant.
Chapter 10 of Proverbs and verse 4. Lazy hands
make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
And then again verse 24 of chapter 12. Diligent
hands will rule, laziness ends, and slave labor.
What he's saying here is the hard work pays off.
The diligent man does not have to unduly rely
on others. The increase of his wealth frees him
from dependence to be self -sufficient. He works
hard and as a result of that, he receives increase.
And his increase results in his self -reliance.
A lot of people daydream about that kind of a
life. But chapter 12 verse 11 warns, he who works
his land will have abundant food, but he who
chases fantasies lacks judgment. So a lot of
people daydreaming about self -reliance. But
they will never experience it in life because
they are not diligent to work hard. Now I recognize
this, this cuts across the grain of our culture.
We like to think about making it the easy way.
Friend, there is no easy way to do it. The way
to do it is to work hard, to learn in one's youth,
to be diligent. Out of that diligence, there
will be increase that will result in self -reliance.
But the slothful, indolent person comes to poverty.
The man received his pay envelope and on the
outside it said, your raise will become effective
as soon as you do. A lazy person will come to
poverty. It does no good to daydream about becoming
self -sufficient. The man who impoverishes himself
from laziness imposes upon himself restrictions.
that caused him not to be able to enjoy life
to its fullest. Now, I want to make it clear
that I understand that laziness is not the root
of all poverty. Some poverty comes because of
oppression and injustice. Some poverty comes
because of politics and because of military action.
There's all kinds of reasons for poverty. But
laziness is one reason, isn't it? Being self
-sufficient is important so that one can sense
well -being and be emotionally healthy. The man
who is diligent receives the best from life.
His efforts result in satisfaction. His increase
results in self -reliance in a healthy and proper
and godly sense. And thirdly, his preparation
results in security. Turn back again to chapter
6. And verse 6. Where we are instructed, go to
the ant, you sluggard. Consider its ways and
be wise. Here we have a picture from nature.
This is one of two times the ant is mentioned
in the Bible. Such a little, small insect. Both
times that God talks about it is in a positive
sense. Here the lazy person can learn something
from the ant that will make him wise. It has
no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores
its provisions in summer and gathers its food
at harvest. What he's saying is that the diligent
man learns to plan ahead. He learns to plan ahead.
So if you're a student today and you know that
at the end of the quarter you've got a term paper,
what's the smart thing to do? Begin the project
weeks in advance. What happens when you prepare
that way? It results in security. You feel secure
about your grades, you feel secure about your
life, you feel secure about your sleep. Because
you know that when you get to the end of the
quarter, you've prepared well enough in advance,
the paper will be done. You're planning to go
to college? Are you saving money for college?
Tuition is expensive in most colleges. You better
plan ahead. Preparation results in security.
Do you have taxes to pay? You might want to save
for those. What about insurance? If you have
a child of five, remember that in 11 years he's
going to drive. Start saving now for the auto
insurance. That preparation will result in security
when he's 16. The fruit of diligence is personal
security, at least as much as is humanly possible.
Let's recognize the fact and be honest to say
That true security is not found in material things.
But we must also point out the fact that God
intends for us to repair through life for our
security. The ant is an example. The writer shows
us that the ant needs no overseer. It does not
need a foreman. It does not need a superintendent.
It doesn't need a manager. The ant is a social
creature. though I've never found it very sociable
myself. It is a social creature. It lives in
a colony. Ants, by their nature, are initiators.
They are self -starters. They are not clock watchers.
Did you ever see an ant with a Timex on its leg?
Of course not. They don't watch the clock. They
just do the work. In fact, they appear not to
rest, although they do. Most ants do their work
in the morning and the late afternoon and take
the midday to rest. But they're constantly working,
it seems. They cooperate with others. Their community
functions smoothly. We can learn something from
the ant. Secondly, we notice from the ant that
the ant takes advantage of opportune times and
situations. When it's summer, the ant is gathering
in. Why is that? Because there is a time coming
when the ant cannot gather in. And so he prepares
for retirement, so to speak. And when fall comes
and things become more dormant, the ant has his
supply laid in. The writer is saying that we
must become shrewd investors of our time, our
money, our strength. Our preparation, well in
advance, results in our personal security. But
laziness is like a thief. It robs us of security.
When we waste time, our talents, our potential,
our money, our opportunities, we squander what
God puts into our hands and which is precious.
Charles Bridges in his commentary on the book
of Proverbs, which is a classic, writes, the
lazy man keeps the future carefully out of sight
to be provided for like the present when it comes.
He always makes sure that the future is around
the corner where he can't see it and doesn't
have to think about it. Now, of course, there
is a sense in which we're to live a day at a
time. But taken to an extreme, it becomes sinful.
it becomes sloth. There was a student who wrote
Henry Ward Beecher, asking him how to obtain
an easy job. Reverend Beecher replied to him
with this remark in writing, if that's your attitude,
you'll never amount to anything. You cannot be
an editor or become a lawyer or think of entering
the ministry. None of these professions are easy.
You will have to forget the fields of merchandising
and shipping, abhor the practice of politics,
and forget about the difficult field of medicine.
To be a farmer or even a good soldier, you must
study and think. My son, you have come into a
hard world. I know of only one easy place in
it, and that's the grave. He's right. It is diligence
that results in our security. John Wanamaker
is a name that is unknown to most of us today.
He died 70 years ago. But in his day he was one
of the most famous businessmen of America. He
was also a wonderful Christian. For several years
he sold clothes. in a store in Philadelphia,
and then quit that job to become the full -time
secretary of the YMCA in Philadelphia. But after
four years in 1861, he decided to start his own
business and did so with God's blessing. In a
few years, he had several stores and was one
of the most wealthy men in America. At the same
time, in 1889, he was appointed postmaster general
of the United States by President Benjamin Harrison.
And he was the superintendent of the largest
Sunday school in the world at the Bethany Presbyterian
Church in Philadelphia. Someone asked him one
time how he could hold all of these positions
at one time, and here was his response. Early
in life, I read, seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, and all these things
shall be added to you. The Sunday school is my
business. all the rest are the things." What
he was saying was that he was diligent in giving
himself to the Lord and to his kingdom and his
work and God saw after the things. One evidence
of his right priorities can be seen in the fact
that he had constructed in one of his stores
a soundproof room. Every day, early in the day,
he would spend 30 minutes praying and meditating
upon God's Word in that special study prepared
for him. Diligence. Diligence brings the best
that life has to offer. Therefore we ought to
avoid laziness. It is a waste of life and it
is a waste of the opportunities that Christ will
give us in this coming Kingdom. It is the diligent
person who will be rewarded. It is the one who
makes the most of what he's had in this life,
to whom Christ will say, enter into the kingdom,
great is your reward. Each of us will give a
count of himself to Jesus Christ at the judgment
seat, and on that day it's the diligent who will
receive the reward. May I again quote from Charles
Bridges? He says, look at laziness not as an
infirmity but as a sin, affecting the whole man,
growing upon us with unseen power. Therefore,
don't allow it any rest, no time to root itself,
resist it in all its forms, bodily, mentally,
spiritually. Don't allow it any indulgence of
sleep and appetites. Live by rule, have your
time strictly arranged, Employ yourself in early
work for God. Store your mind with useful knowledge,
always reserving the first place for earnest
and prayerful study of the Word of God. And so
Paul instructs us, whether you eat or drink or
whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
And he says, whatever you do, work at it with
all your heart. as working for the Lord, not
for men. Since you know from the Lord, you will
receive an inheritance." Listen, Paul wrote that
to slaves. He wrote that to people who really
did not receive self -reliance and satisfaction.
They did not have much reward in this life materially,
and yet he says even to them, be diligent. because
you're working for the Lord and not for men and
he will reward you. I tell you that kind of an
attitude makes a difference. It makes a difference.
A poll recently revealed that those who have
a high degree of quote religious commitment close
quote like their jobs better and perform them
more efficiently than non -religious counterparts.
Men and women who took their faith seriously
scored well ahead of those of their colleagues
in areas such as cooperativeness, loyalty, and
creativity. It makes a difference when you see
yourself as working for the Lord and not for
man. Therefore, let us be diligent. And not only
diligent in physical things and material things
and economic things but in spiritual things.
Too often those are the things that we put last
on the list. We see well after our bodies and
we make sure that we're in shape. We look to
our finances to see that we have money to pay
the bills and we lay in advance of what's coming
ahead. We take care of ourselves in so many ways
and yet often we're lazy when it comes to spiritual
things. We can become sluggards, sluggards in
that sense. People who are slow. We delay until
tomorrow. We're putting off until a more convenient
time. Making the decisions that will get us right
with God. The fact is today is all we have. It's
all we can count on. So let's make those decisions
today that will put us into shape spiritually.
That will mean that we are being diligent about
those things that truly are the most important.
Let's pray. I don't know what area of your life
the Spirit of God may be putting his finger on.
Perhaps it is that you're not caring for your
body. You've become a lazy person physically.
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, my
friend. Do you need to commit yourself today
to diligence regarding your physical body? Maybe
it's your finances that you need to ask the Lord's
help to be diligent with? Perhaps it's your mind.
What a wonderful gift God has given us. But in
this day of entertainment we waste it so much.
We put it into neutral. We're not diligent with
our minds. Perhaps there's a commitment in that
area that needs to be made. But let me go ahead
and bore on to that area of our life that is
spiritual. Are you right with God? Are you delaying
and neglecting and putting off until some other
time getting right with Him? Dear friend, be
diligent about it. Awaken to the hour. This is
the only hour you're guaranteed today. Trust
Jesus Christ as your Savior. Receive Him into
your heart as the Lord of your life. Turn from
everything else that you've trusted in and lived
for and live for Him alone. And if you're a Christian
and your spiritual life has been neglected, if
you've been lazy spiritually, will you tell the
Lord that today you will be diligent? That you
will renew yourself? Father, I pray that whatever
the Spirit of God may find within us today that
needs to be addressed, that we will hear His
voice and respond to His tender pleadings. And
if there be someone here today without Christ,
oh, may they this morning, even this day, trust
Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Lord, may all
of us who've done that be sure that we're living
diligent, spiritual lives, putting our priorities
first, seeking the things of God first, knowing
that you will add all the other things to us
in your way and time. Now before I close in prayer,
I wonder if there are some here who would say,
Pastor, God has spoken to my heart and there
are some areas of my life where I need to be
diligent. And I'm committing myself today to
God to be the diligent person I ought to be in
that area. And I want to by the uplifted hand
say before God that is my commitment today to
be diligent in those areas that the Spirit of
God has revealed less than diligence today. Would
you put your hand up and then put it down? This
is for God and your physical response really
to say to God, I want to be diligent. God bless
you. Father, you've seen the hands and you know
the hearts, and now by your Spirit fulfill these
commitments through these individuals. Having
put the will into motion, may now the Spirit
of God come alongside each of them and give them
strength to be diligent in that area or those
areas where you've brought conviction this day.
In Jesus' name, amen.