Lazy Bones

Allen Webster

Topic(s): Christian Life, Father

James Albery (1838-1889) wrote his own epitaph:

He slept beneath the moon,
He basked beneath the sun;
He lived a life of going-to-do,
And died with nothing done.

“He lived a life of going-to-do and died with nothing done” is a fit summary of many a life. The one-talent man was not condemned for wasting his talent on “wine, women, and song.” He did not steal a talent from the two-talent man or cheat the five-talent man in business. He was just lazy (“slothful,”¹ Matthew 25:26). There will be some very decent folks turned from heaven’s door because they just didn’t “do.” It is not that they did anything wrong, they just didn’t do much of anything.

A quick overview of the Bible’s content shows God’s emphasis on work and His warnings against laziness. The word slothful is found fifteen times in the Bible; idle/idleness, fourteen times; sluggard, six times; work, four hundred nineteen times; and labour, eighty-nine times. The first command given man was to “dress and keep” the Garden (Genesis 2:10). The Bible’s last chapter records, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14). In between these the wise man wrote, “… drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags… Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger…How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?” (Proverbs 23:21; 19:15; 6:9).

A Man Should...

Get a Job.

Some seem to think the world owes them a living, and even expect the government to collect it for them! The wise man pictured them: “As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth” (Proverbs 26:14,15). Some are almost as bad as the Russian who was so lazy they said, “He's willing to swallow but too lazy to chew.” God intended for man to work (Genesis 3:19). Adam was a gardener. Noah was a boat builder and preacher. Abraham was a shepherd. David was a musician, shepherd, and king. Jesus was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55). Peter, James, and John were fishermen. Matthew was a tax-collector. Luke was a doctor. Cornelius was a soldier. Paul was a tentmaker and professor. He said, “…if any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). That may sound hard, but God’s wisdom is seen in the story of a thirty-six-year-old New Yorker. The Associated Press quoted him as saying, “I like to live decent, I like to be clean.” Nothing wrong with that; the only problem was he didn’t like to work. So he found other ways to satisfy his cultured tastes. He would walk into a fine restaurant, order top cuisine and choice liquor, and then when the check arrived, shrug his shoulders and wait for the police. The sometimes homeless man actually wanted to end up in the slammer, where he would get three meals a day and a clean bed. He pled guilty to stealing a restaurant meal thirty-one times. In 1994 he served ninety days at the Rikers Island jail for filching a meal from a café in Rockefeller Center. New York taxpayers have paid more than a quarter of a million dollars over five years to feed, clothe, an house one lazy man! Others falsify claims for disability or harassment to get a “free ride.” As Matthew Henry said, “It is common for men who will not do their duty, to pretend they cannot.”² But God will judge all such behavior (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Work When at Work.

Employers complain that this generation wants a big paycheck but doesn’t want to earn it. Some apply themselves when the boss is looking over their shoulder, but as soon as he’s around the corner, they go back to goofing off. The Bible says, “…Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6; cf. Colossians 3:22). Chilton Research Service reported that nineteen percent of adults ages 18-34 admit having called in sick to take a “mental health day” more than once (cited in USA Today, 12/26/95). The secret to promotion in most jobs is no secret—just be willing to work. “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute” (Proverbs 12:24). As one said, “Opportunity for advancement is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Some are like one farmer who said lightning struck an old shed and thus saved him the trouble of tearing it down, and rain washed off his car and saved him washing it. When asked what he was doing now, he replied, “Waiting for an earthquake to shake the potatoes out of the ground.” This is not how “real-life” works. If you are waiting for your “ship to come in” remember that people seldom drift to success. “The bee that makes the honey doesn’t hang around the hive.” The road to success is marked with many tempting parking places. Diligence in business is every Christian’s duty; not so much that he may attain worldly wealth (Matthew 6:19-21), but that he may not be a burden to others, or a scandal to the church.

Provide For His Family.

The masculine pronoun is not gender insensitivity or stereotype. It is used because God placed the responsibility for earning the family’s living squarely on the man’s shoulder.³ Since Adam, when a man assumes the headship of a family by taking a wife and, later, brings offspring into the world, he is expected to earn a livelihood for them. Until he is ready to work, he does not have the right to marry or bear children. A man who is too lazy to do so should be shamed by society and will be judged by God. Paul wrote, "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (1 Timothy 5:8). Some say, “I’m just trusting in God to take care of me.” God provides for us by giving us healthy bodies, rain to water the earth, and sun to grow the crops. Even when he gave manna in the wilderness, they had to gather it each day. He doesn’t do for us what we can do for ourselves. One said, “Don’t loaf away your time and depend on the Lord for your daily bread; He isn’t running a bakery.” It is true enough that the Bible promises no loaves to the loafer.

Don’t be a “lazy bones.”

Endnotes:

¹ okneros, “tardy;” the root means “to hesitate” which seems to indicate not willful neglect so much as procrastination.

² Commenting on Proverbs 26:15.

³ Wives may have to help if he is unable to completely support the family or if his health fails. This, of course, will hinder her from having time to work at fulfilling her domestic roles.