Laziness Doesn't Pay

"How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man" (Proverbs 6:9-11).

Continuing to encourage wisdom in everyday life, Solomon prods the sluggard to get out of bed. Simply put, sleeping the day away instead of working leads to poverty. Poverty is mentioned quite a bit in Proverbs and is something that can and should be avoided by hard work.

As typical humans who have been affected by a natural bent toward sin, we all have it in us to compromise. We have it in us to make excuses. We ask ourselves, "What harm is in a little slumber and a little sleep? What's wrong with a little folding of the hands?" The problem with some people is that "a little" isn't really a little. It's just their way of excusing themselves from hard work. They're lazy!

The result of laziness is poverty and want that strike as suddenly as an armed robber. Just as the armed robber strikes his unsuspecting victim quickly, so does poverty.

Wisdom calls on us to get out of bed and to start working. She calls us to stop loafing. Wisdom tells us to renounce laziness and thus avoid poverty. To be clear, Proverbs speaks wisdom into the life of those who can work but won't, while speaking wisdom into the life of those who can work to help those who can't. Both are very real biblical realities.