Read
9Being lazy is no different
from being a troublemaker.
24Some people are too lazy
to lift a hand
to feed themselves.
4If you are too lazy to plow,
don't expect a harvest.
Reflect
I know a lot of people who others characterize as lazy: homeless men and women, who sit on the sidewalk and beg. But they’re not actually lazy – they spend more hours each day just trying to survive than most people do at their jobs. And if you think panhandling is easy, just try squatting on the concrete with your hat out until you have enough to buy food, pay the rent, clothe yourself and so on. The “laziness” of my homeless friends is a function of profound ruin in the core areas of their life experience.
But sometimes we are genuinely lazy. When we have a difficult or boring task ahead of us, it’s so easy to drift into some activity that demands less of us and provides instant gratification. We get distracted from getting on with the task that needs our attention. Video games, social media, talking on the phone, even shopping can take up hours of our time. (You can doubtless think of your own particular time-waster.) Or sometimes we just don’t feel like making the effort. The Message (Prov 18:9) reads “Slack habits and sloppy work are as bad as vandalism.”
Constructive, productive activity is a necessary part of our mental, emotional and spiritual growth. Meaningful work is a great gift. Creative ventures that demand our attention and energy bear tremendous fruit in our own lives, and the lives of others.
Respond
Creator, You made us in your own creative, hard-working image. Give us joy in the work we do, and may it be fruitful for your kingdom. Amen.
Greg Paul
Greg Paul is a pastor and member, as well as the founder, of the Sanctuary community in Toronto. Sanctuary, a community in which people who are wealthy and people who are poor live, work and share their experiences and resources on a daily basis, makes a priority of welcoming and caring for some of the most hurting and excluded people in Canada’s largest city, including people struggling with addiction, mental illness, prostitution, and homelessness. Greg is the author of the recently released Resurrecting Religion and several other award-winning books: Simply Open; Close Enough to Hear God Breathe; The Twenty-Piece Shuffle; and God In The Alley. He is the father of four children, and married to Maggie, who has three children of her own.