Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy one to those who send him.   Proverbs 10:26

It is ttruly irritating to have a lazy messenger or servant who should be taking care of something, but who is constantly late and ineffective in fulfilling their duties.  That is what we learn about today in the proverb of the day. 

Two pictures are given to us from every day life.  The first is the way that vinegar set our teeth on edge.  The kind of vinegar spoken of here is wine vinegar that was very sour as well as being very strong in its effect on a person's teeth.  This would result in the person who drank it being very annoyed and disgusted with its taste.  The other picture is the effect of smoke upon someone's eyes.  When smoke gets in our eyes it is very annoying as well.  We blink and rub our eyes from the irritation that they experience from the smoke. 

These two pictures are now compared to a lazy person who does not do what they are supposed to do.  To those who send the lazy person, there is great annoyance at their behavior as well as their inability to get the message to whom it should go - or get the work done that is assigned.  Either way, there is great annoyance and disgust as they have to deal with another person's inability to do the job. 

Amasa in 2 Samuel was one of these people.  David sent him out to gather the armies of Israel in a certain time period.  But Amasa delayed and did not do the job in a timely manner.  David soon sent Joab to finish this work - concerned that Amasa's lack of diligence would cost him his kingdom or at least prolong the rebellion that was at hand.  Either way, Amasa's laziness was causing David great annoyance.  In the end, it also cost Amasa his life - for when Joab caught up with him later - he killed him. 

If you have been given a task - wisdom is to be diligent in performing the task and doing it well.  Make your authorities glad that they chose to work with you.  Make them grateful to have someone who is not lazy and undisciplined in their work.  To do otherwise is just to annoy them and possibly injure yourself with consequences for your laziness.  Be diligent, work hard, and do not be an annoyance to those who send you.

Laziness casts into a deep sleep, And an idle man will suffer hunger. Proverbs 19:15

Laziness will come to haunt a man.  The effects of laziness are not immediately apparent - but in time they will show themselves.  The word "laziness" here is the Hebrew word 'atslah' and it means to be sluggish, indolent, and lazy and describes someone who is in a state and attitude of doing nothing.  Since the word idolent is not used much any more it might help to know that it means to be averse to activity, effort, or movement. 

The "deep sleep" into which one is cast due to laziness is the same word that was used when God put Adam into a deep sleep to create Eve from a rib He took from Adam's side.  This word is used figuratively here to speak of a moral and spiritual stupor which is how Isaiah uses it in Isaiah 29:10, "For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers."  In Isaiah the idea is that the deep sleep was spiritual and resulted in the people being completely blind to spiritual realities and the warnings they needed to heed to prevent disaster in their lives. 

The second half of this passage presents an interesting thing to us.  The Hebrew speaks not just of a sure consequence of laziness, but of a hunger that must come upon the lazy person to that they will eventually work.  The idle man will or must suffer hunger.  That is the idea here.  He won't get up and work and will continue in his aversion to activity and action - until hunger strikes and makes him get up and work.  This is Scriptural for the New Testamant tells us plainly, "If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat either." (2 Thessalonians 3:10)  

God's Word is not a great friend to a welfare state.  The Scriptures tell us to work - and to do what we do with all our might.  Work existed before the Fall of man - and it has always has been a good thing to have a godly work ethic.  We are told to help the poor - but we are not counselled to put them in a state of continual dependency.  This mistake will result in them becoming lazy in the end - and thinking that the state owes them a living.  I realize that such words are very incindiary in our world - and I do not use them toward those who have genuine disabilities that prevent them from working.  But the wise man knows that a laziness that is encouraged is one that will not only cause hunger - but it will blind the person to spiritual truth as well.  We would do well not to encourage it in our children - or our nation.

He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, But he who pursues worthless things lacks sense. Proverbs 12:11

I find it interesting that one of the phrases that I hear often is, "Don't work too hard."  There are some out there who do struggle with the problem of working all the time - but over the past 49 years of my life, I think my problem is not working too hard.  My problem is that I get distracted and lazy - and don't attend to the things that really matter in my life - and in my work.

The proverb today uses an agricultural setting to help us understand the value and the blessing of working hard.  "He who tills his land will have plenty of bread."  If a man works hard at plowing the ground and planting a crop - he will have plenty of grain to harvest and make into bread.  God intended for us to work in life.  We need to remember that work is not a part of the curse.  God had Adam till and work in the garden before the fall.  What the fall did was make it to where we would have to work harder.  The ground, which formerly grew wonderfully without weeds, was now going to yield the crops we need by the sweat of our brow.  It is going to require not just tilling and planting - but also weeding.  This was an activity that was unnecessary prior to the fall.  This being said, there is a promise here that if we work hard tilling and planting the land - we will have a harvest sufficient to provide plenty of bread for our family. 

There is something that is good about work.  The more I am idle - the more my mind and my heart have time to think of things that will get me into trouble.  The saying that an idle mind is the devil's workshop is for the most part true.  That is why God wants us to work - and I truly believe He wants us to work hard. 

The second half of this proverb warns us that the one who pursues worthless things lacks sense.  What this is warning against is the wandering mind, and the earthly lifestyle.  This man is pursuing worthless things.  Worthless is the word "reya" which means something that is empty, worthless, or vain.  It indicates something that has nothing in it - it is utterly empty.  The unwise man is pursuing emptiness.  He is chasing after things that do not matter - and will not matter in eternity.  This man, according to Solomon, lacks sense.  He is as void in his thinking as he is in his pursuit of these empty pursuits.  What he wants and chases after is not worth having.  He will open what to him is his treasure chest one day and find that it is filled with things that are void of any value whatsoever.  As Solomon says in Ecclesiastes - he has chased after vanity and wind.

Here is where we need to consider Ecclesiastes to give us the proper perspective on things.  Solomon was arguably one of the richest men to ever live on this planet.  Yet at the end of his life, when he wrote Ecclesiastes, he said that all the riches and wealth and opulence was empty, meaningless - a chasing after the wind.  He looked at all the money and things he had and came to the conclusion that they were all vain.  He looked at all the women he had sexual relations with and concluded that his pursuit of pleasure was all vain.  He looked at all the authority and position he had enjoyed - and came to the realization that it too was vain.  It is not that these things were evil in and of themselves (unless Scripture forbade his actions).  It was that when he pursued these things he was pursuing emptiness - trying to catch wind in his hands. 

There is also the ones in today's society (and every society) that pursue vain things in the entertainments and amusements of our day.  We have millions of children and adults who pursue the high score or the next level on their video games like it was the most important thing in life.  We not only have people overindulged in sports - but now have fantasy sports leagues where we follow the ones actually playing in a make believe world of a fantasy league.  Some lose themselves in virtual worlds on the computer - others now lose themselves in virtual computer pursuits on their iTouch or smart phone.  Regardless of how we are doing it - we are wasting our lives in pursuit of worthless things.  On the day when we are ultimately judged for the "tilling and planting of our very lives" we may unfortunately find that these pursuits were the height of foolishness.  We may come to grasp that we have lacked the bread of life and as a result have suffered from spiritual famine most of our lives. 

May God gives us wisdom to learn now that what matters is working hard for the things that matter.  What will matter is how we have redeemed the time in providing for our families - loving our spouses and our children - and working in the eternal fields of God's kingdom.  If we do, we will have plenty of bread - even the bread that lasts forever.  If we do not, we will have the terrifying specter of learning that we have spent our lives chasing after wind.

How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 "A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest"— 11 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man. Proverbs 6:9-11

Everyone needs sleep to be able to function in life.  If you don't think this is true - try going without sleep for a few days.  But there is a problem that comes with too much sleep.  Too much sleep leads to laziness.  That is the problem that is pointed out in these 3 verses of Proverbs.

The question is put to the sluggard, "How long will you lie down?"  The writer of Proverbs asks when he is going to rise from sleeping.  Here is the problem - we have a man who is more interested in sleeping than in getting up and doing something.  There is not an illness involved here.  Neither is there a situation where someone has been up all night working or dealing with a child.  This is simply a man who does not want to get out of bed.  He doesn't want to do this because he is lazy. 

It is good to have a routine for yourself that includes a time when you are going to wake up in the morning.  For the vast majority of us who have jobs - this problem is solved by our employer, who expects us to show up for work each day when he dictates.  We have a choice to sleep in . . . it is just that this choice also involves not having a job, food, a place to live - you get what I'm saying.  Because of this fact of life - we wake up and get out of bed. 

If you want to rear a child well - you will also teach your child to get up and get out of bed as well.  For this reason it is good for your child to have a job - even if it is one that is around home.  I remember hearing a story about a farmer who taught his children to wake up and get working on the farm.  His sons were with him in the corn early one morning when a neighbor commented about this practice.  His comment was that he sure was working his boys hard to raise corn.  I love the comment the farmer gave in return.  He said, "Sir, I'm not raising corn - I'm raising sons." 

What a wonderful statement.  We teach our children to wake up and get going each day because we want to train them and teach them how to live in this world.  It would be far wiser for them to learn this lesson young and maintain it throughout life - than to learn it only because necessity demands it when they get a job.  When we leave it to necessity to educate them - they often learn the hard way.  They also resent having their laziness interrupted with something so harsh as . . . reality. 

Sleep is not the real problem here.  It is what comes with too much sleep.  There is sleep and slumber that is perfectly fine.  If we go to bed on time - we can get plenty of sleep every night.  Our problem usually is discerning between a regular night in life - and one that is special.  I know some will scoff at this - but it is also wise to teach children (and some adults as well) the difference between a school night - and a weekend or vacation night.  For big people reading this - that can also be said this way.  We need to discern the difference between a night when we have responsibilities the next day - and one where we do not. 

Our problem is that we not only sleep and slumber - but we also get the idea that we can fold our hands and not work.  When we decide that we don't have to be diligent - we don't have to be hard working - we don't have to be our best for work and our employer each day - we are making a big mistake.  The Scriptures teach us that God desires us to work hard - as if we are working for Him.  When it is time to work - God wants us to work.  This folding of the hands to rest is a picture of a man who values sleep and rest far more than he does hard work.  This may sound fine to most - but God made it clear to us from the Law that for six days we are to labor and do our work.  Work was not a part of the Fall of man into sin.  Work is something God had Adam do in the garden. 

When we don't work there will be troubles and problems for us in life.  First, we won't earn money with which to pay for food and other living items.  Second, if we have a job and don't work hard - we will eventually lose that job.  Finally, God calls us to work - and when we don't we often find ourselves doing things that we will regret later.  Too much free time - plays right into the hands of the devil.  I believe the old phrase is, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop."  No work and all sleep makes Johnny a sinful boy. 

When we don't work something is coming - and it would be wise if we were warned of what that is.  Poverty is coming if you don't wake up and work hard. 

The warning here from Solomon is that poverty is coming to us.  Two descriptions of how poverty is coming are given to us to warn us that this visitor is not welcome in our lives.  First, poverty is coming in like a "vagabond."  The word here means one who walks back and forth on a highway - and it referred to a highwayman.  These were people who walked about on the highways and roads who desired to rob those passing on the road.  They were thieves and robbers.  Thus what Solomon is saying here is that poverty is going to come upon you like a thief hiding near the road.  He will rise up suddenly and attack.  Usually this comes without a lot of warning.  That is the way it is for the sluggard who loves his sleep.  He thinks everything is fine - and then suddenly poverty hits him without him being ready for it. 

The second picture Solomon uses here to describe how poverty is coming is that of an "armed man."  What is fascinating about this word is that it actually refers to a man with a shield, and the same word is used of the protective scales of a crocodile.  Most commentators figure that this refers to an armed man with shield and with a sword.  This one comes upon you for the purpose of taking what you have.  I take a different tack on this word.  I think it refers to how hard it is to get out of poverty - especially a poverty caused by laziness, lack of discipline, and being a sluggard.  You can try to fight a man with a shield - but it is difficult.  He is going to be able to ward off all your attempts to harm him.  He will prevail more than once - so you have to be wise and fight hard to vanquish him.  When a man is lazy and in poverty - he is hit with the proverbial double-whammy.  He not only is poor, he is poor and unwilling to work hard to get out of poverty.  All of the stories I've heard about those overcoming poverty had to do with those who worked hard to do so.  I can't ever remember one where the man or woman slept in every day and barely worked when they did apply themselves. 

Laziness is a difficult thing to overcome.  Someone who loves their sleep does not train easily.  They want to relax and NOT work.  Thus they face a very daunting future.  They don't want to work - but they do want to eat.  They don't want to apply themselves - but they do want the stuff that comes from applying yourself.  Unfortunately, our government often gives no incentive to get out of this state as they offer welfare programs and far more incentive NOT to work than TO work.  Welfare to those who are just lazy is not a help - it hurts them and society as well.  Those truly in need can and should be helped by society - but we've gone well beyond that in our nation.  We've subsidized far too much laziness and lack of discipline.  That is why our growing socialism, and the laziness it encourages by punishing the successful and rewarding those who stick their hand out to the government, is going to receive a visit from these verses one day.  One day even nations will be visited by the highwayman and the man with the shield.  Unless we encourage work - hard work - and things like industry and frugality and discipline - we will continue to destroy the work ethic in our country.  When that work is completed, we will have put the finishing touches on a sleep-loving, work-hating society.  Oh, may God give us wisdom to wake up, work hard, make wise financial choices, and honor Him in it all.  May He have mercy on our country and help us to see that laziness, self-indulgence, and the thought that our government owes us a living are not helping us - these things are destroying us. 

The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing. Proverbs 20:4

Planning and preparation for the future provision is something that God encourages.  Here we read about the sluggard and lazy man again.  We read about how he does not want to work when he should be working.  In the autumn a good farmer should be plowing so that he is ready to put in a crop.  The sluggard does not want to plow - because he cannot see past the nose on his face when it comes to the future.  Instead the sluggard has many more important things he thinks he needs to be doing.  Most likely these things are play rather than work.  So he applies himself to his own lazy pursuits and pays for it dearly in the end.

We read that when the harvest comes, the sluggard is begging for food.  He has nothing because he has done nothing.  While those who have planned and worked hard reap the fruits of their labor, the sluggard is looking at the big pile of nothing his laziness has provided for him.  He is out begging - and playing the poor, pitiful me card. 

I'm about to say something that needs to be said in our society.  There are two kinds of needy people in the world today.  There are the truly needy who have fallen on hard times.  They are willing to work and desire to do the right thing - but for reasons beyond their control either health or other factors have put them in need.  These people deserve our help and support through their difficult times.  We want to offer them a hand up - because that is what they truly want - a hand up - as they regain their footing.  They do not want a hand out - because their desire in the end is to be working and being self-sufficient once again.  The second kind of needy person is the sluggard.  He is the one who is needy because of his own lack of character and neglect.  He does not work hard - he doesn't want to work at all.  He is lazy and preoccupied with his leisure and desire for others to provide for him.  To help this man is to hurt him in the end.  What this man needs is to experience hunger and true desperation.  He will cry out that others who are diligent and hard working have an unfair advantage.  He will cry out that they get all the breaks - while he gets nothing.  He will cry out that what government should do is tax and take from the diligent and give to those less fortunate.  The problem is his "less-fortunate-ness" is his own doing - or lack of doing as this verse points out.  To reward him with provision is to simply encourage him to continue in his laziness.  What the sluggard needs is not a hand out - but a hand upside his head.  He needs a serious reality check - and some hard knocks that will shake him out of his lethargy. 

Scripture never begrudges providing for the truly poor and needy.  But the same Bible that speaks of giving to the poor - also warns us that some of the poor are that way by slothful choice.  These are the ones who need more than just some help financially - they need a serious fundamental moral change when it comes to their work ethic.  When we offer them THAT help - we are truly helping them where their need is greatest.

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made fat. Proverbs 13:4

The sluggard is always wanting and never getting.  His life is a series of desires and cravings for everything under the sun.  He craves and speaks of all the things he wants - but does nothing to actually obtain them.  If someone gives them to him he is happy for a moment or two.  That happiness is soon replaced with another craving, though, and he returns to his world of constantly wanting something else.  In all his wanting though, he never lifts himself up to the level of work and labor.  These things would open his life up to actually seeing things happen.  He is lazy and undisciplined and therefore he never attains to things.  The proverb tells us that he gets nothing.  His hands are always empty - first they are empty of work and labor - and in the end they are empty of any real productivity and products.  He is a sad soul - doubly empty.

The soul of the diligent man is fat.  He works hard and labors diligently at the things he wants.  He allows desire to prod him to work and labor.  Thus his desires and wants become more than just a craving that taunts him.  He uses those desires to spur him to action - first action of the mind - and then action of life.  He works hard - and at the end of the day has something to show for it.  If not his actual goals - he has the satisfaction that he is one day closer to seeing them realized.  Along the way his soul gets fatter.  His mind is filled with thought of how to do things better, quicker, with greater quality and skill.  Along the way his will is set to do what is before him.  Along the way his emotions are kept in check - not dominating his life with unmet cravings and the whirlwhind of emotions they bring - but with excitment about what is coming as his work yields true rewards.  Even before he gets what he is working for - his soul remains fat with the good things that come from hard work and industry. 

One craves and is wracked by the unmet cries of his cravings.  He is starving to death physically, emotionally, and mentally as he has nothing to show for doing nothing.  The other is working toward something good - and all along the way good comes to him.  It is far better to be working toward something than to be only craving what you will never get.