Mims Chapel Church 

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Lesson 13 • Fourth Week

Laziness Is Destructive

Background Reading

2 Chronicles 29:11; Ecclesi­astes 10:18; Proverbs 6: 6; 10-11; 13:4; 19:15;
Romans 12:10-12

Devotional Reading

Proverbs 6:6-11

Central Verse
"Not slothful in business: fervent in     "Never be lazy but work hard and
spirit: serving the Lord."                          serve the Lord enthusiastically."
Romans 12:11, KJV                                   Romans 12:11, NLT

Key Terms
Slothful—Inclined to the quality or state of being lazy.
Sluggard—A habitually lazy person.
Lazy—Not willing to act or work.

Introduction

Laziness involves a lack of motivation and determination to act, even when the person has the capacity to complete a task. The dictionary says that a genuinely lazy person struggles to fulfill their responsibilities efficiently. They tend to be unambitious, which means they don't have a strong work ethic or make plans to pursue their dreams. They put in the least amount of effort possible and are content to just skate by without reaching their full potential.

There is truly little good that is said about a lazy person. Very few people want to be associated with a person who is known to be lazy, because they are such procrastinators. They constantly postpone things, saying that they will do it another time and never accomplish anything. Lazy people have no real value of time, so this causes them to be constantly late.

The Prophet told Hezekiah in Chronicles 2:11 not to be negligent because the Lord had made choice of him, to stand before Him, and to serve and
minister to Him. He wanted Hezekiah to understand that he could not be lazy and serve his leader. The believer must not allow himself to be lazy as he serves his leader. A good servant knows what his leader needs before he asks for it, because he has taken the time to know the leader and what his desires are. He can never be a good leader if he is too lazy to be a good follower.

Discussion

Most of the time if a person is lazy, he is nasty, dirty, and wasteful. Laziness is a serious matter, because if a person is lazy in the natural, most of the time he is spiritually lazy. And spiritual laziness is a great obstacle in his journey of faith. Jesus requires the believer to choose a narrow path, to dedicate time to prayer and the studying of the Word to live a committed life of holiness.

But laziness will hinder the spiritual growth of a believer. So, the believer must embrace the daily challenge of following Christ with dedication and fervor. Time is a gift from God, and He requires the believers to manage it well, because He cares how the believer spends his time. God is timeless, He doesn't need time, but He does provide it for the believer. Believers need to look at their lives and see what can be done better and find out what they can do and where they can prevent procrastination. Usually where there is procrastination there is confusion, anxiety and doubts, and the believer needs to work on bringing his thoughts under the control of the Holy Spirit. He must remember that his thoughts are not the Lord's thoughts, so he must be mindful of what is on his mind.

In the Word, God uses the ant as an example of an industrious life. He said to look at the ant's life: he has no supervisor or boss over him, yet he works diligently to make sure that when the cold weather comes, he and his com­munity have food and supplies for winter. God tells the people that they cannot lay around and sleep all day and expect to receive what they need, they must get up and work while the weather is nice, while the sun is yet shinning. The Word lets the believers know that if they are lazy or slothful, it will cause them to be sleepy and idle, then later when they have a need or want to eat something, there is nothing in the cupboard for them to get. If they are too lazy to put anything there, when the need arises, there is noth­ing to fulfill that need.

Conclusion

To overcome a lazy spirit the believer must allow words like discipline and self-control to become a part of his vocabulary. For without them he won't get a grip on his life and move from lethargy, procrastination, and frustra­tion. He will find himself wasting time, losing the battle, and wallowing in laziness, fear, and materialism.

The wise man said in Ecclesiastes 10:18 that by much slothfulness the building decayeth and through the idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. For if a person uses a slack hand, he will remain poor, but if he gets up and is diligent in his actions he can become rich. A wise and virtu­ous man or woman cannot sit around and be idle and think that the blessing will come. No - only lack, wants, and need will come.

A sluggard can have all the dreams and desires that anyone else has, but until he gets up and does something about it, he will remain poor and live in lack.

The Lord let the Israelites who were too lazy to get up and go gather manna each day, but tried to store up manna during the week, experience worms in their cupboards. He had instructed them to go daily and gather it and, at the weekend, get enough for two days. But they were too lazy and disobedient to obey God, so they suffered the consequences.

Questions

Why is laziness destructive?
What can a believer do to get rid of his lazy spirit?
Why does a person become spiritually lazy?

Essential Thought- "When a person allows himself to be lazy, he sets himself up for failure and lack."

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