“I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
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.”
God's promises . . . we tend to think of them as a red carpet walk toward the glittering lights of better days. That is not always the case. God's promises also serve as warnings. Here God warns us of the danger of putting off the important and of laziness.
This is not a pretty promise.
When I was a kid growing up in South Florida, my dad would chide me when he felt I should be moving rather than meandering. He would say:
“Stop lollygagging!”
My dad saw better things in me and from me.
Little did I know my father was simply mirroring the feelings of my Heavenly Father. God created me for purposeful activity, for creating things, for caring for his world, and for adding value during my days:
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:27-28 ESV
Are you lollygagging? Has "tomorrow" become your favorite word? If you are putting off till tomorrow what should be done today, God has a word for you:
“Stop lollygagging!”
When you hear these words, it is not as if God is angry with you. And no, God is not some cosmic busybody. Love drive this admonition. Your Heavenly Father has made you for -- and sees in you -- so much more!
Where do you need to "get after it" today?