The Value of a Diligent Work Ethic . . . Proverbs 10:4

Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. Proverbs 10:4

Work . . . to some this is a dirty word.  Biblically it might be helpful to know that work existed BEFORE the fall.  God always intended for us to work.  The fall just ensured that this work would be much harder due to mankind's sin.  But work is good.  When we do not want to work - that is bad.

There are those who work with a "negligent hand."  These are those who treacherous in their work.  They are deceitful in what they do.  They may look to others like their are working, but therein lies the deceit.  They actually are NOT working - at least not with a steadfastness and dedication to what they are doing.  They are lazy, slothful and lack any kind of diligence.  This word is also used to speak of those who have a loose character and are slack in far more than just their work.  Their lifestyle is slack - their morals are slack - everything they do is slack. 

The Word tells us here in Proverbs that those who work like this will become poor.  Think about this for a moment.  Consider all the automobile recalls and problems we've seen in recent years.  These are due to a slack-ness somewhere along the line.  It may have been an engineer who was slack in his calculations and who took shortcuts in designing parts and systems.  It may have been an assembly line worker who just slacked off over time in what they were doing.  It may have been management who decided that their bottom line meant everything - and cut quality to the level that they could no longer put out quality parts.  Whatever it was - slack work cost the company millions. 

The diligent though, are made rich.  They may not always have the greatest profit margins - but they do what they do with quality always.  Thus their works come back upon them - and as a result of their attention to detail - their godly work ethic - and their desire to glorify God in all that they do - they are rewarded.  Work ethic unfortunately is something that we no longer focus upon in our nation as we should.  The quick money stories have so much more traction to us.  We don't want to hear that slow and stead wins the race.  We don't want to hear that a lifetime of wealth and riches come usually from a lifetime of hard work and diligent effort.  The lack of such things are costing us more than we realize.