The sluggard never succeeds. This is a clear word from Proverbs and is one that we should not dismiss. It is clear that the sluggard is not a person who is inactive, and, for that reason, we should not allow the picture of the “couch potato” to be our singular perception of sluggardom. If we do, this deceptive picture will cause many to miss their sluggard existence.
A person can be, and often is, very active in their jobs and in their communities and, at the same time, a sluggard. Activity does not mean productivity; finishing the work is the hallmark of the faithful. Last time we considered how the sluggard will never succeed spiritually. Now we will give brief thought to how he or she will never succeed professionally and or financially.
The Sluggard Will Never Succeed Professionally and or Financially
The Proverb that pictures, at least to me, the whole of sluggardom is Proverbs 13:4, “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied”.
That says everything! The sluggard will get nothing while the diligent will be richly supplied. Know and understand that “the diligent will get the consequences of their diligence and the sluggard will get the consequences of his laziness.” This is a universal consequence that the Lord has laid down in life that we should know, believe, and not expect life to yield anything different with regard to success and emptiness.
Again, success is not always measured in money or possessions, though these can be included. Biblically speaking, the blessings of God are of a chiefly, but exclusively, spiritual nature (Ephesians 1:3). Given this universal consequence, however, there is something that we need to know and embrace, especially regarding professional and financial success:
The reason the wicked can be wealthy is, in some respects, because they follow the universal
principles that bring the consequence of success and or wealth.
While it is true that the Bible says some ungodly people obtain this through wickedness, we should never see all wealthy unbelievers as having become so through wicked designs. They obtain professional and financial security because they are diligent at what they do. Jesus says that God’s general love makes the rain to fall upon the just as well as the unjust. This means that God has created the universe and principles (designs) in such a way that, even when unbelievers obey them, they will reap the consequences. The ungodly farmer reaps a harvest like the godly farmer because they both are diligent in planting, seeding, watering, etc. They do not make excuses, nor do they think life, or anyone, owes them anything. They work hard and, therefore, they reap the consequence of diligence.
Some believers are not prosperous, not because the Lord withholds it from them. One way you can conclude that God is withholding this from us is when we work very hard and still do not see the kind of professional and financial wealth. What is often the case, however, Christians do not start or work at or finish the work God has given to them. Instead, they live passively, acting as if life owes them success and wealth without the required diligence. This is what the sluggard will never succeed professional or financially: he lacks the diligence of preparation of putting in the work and in all seasons. But note the following:
“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or
ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie
there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?” (Proverbs 6:6–9).
“He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings
shame” (Proverbs 10:5)
The ant gathers in summer. It is interesting that in the summer we take from everything: school, work, reading, church etc. It is funny how we see the summer as the season to step away from the grind where the ant sees it as time prepare for the lean winters. The ant knows that it is what he does when he does not have to do, that yields the fruit and harvest in its time.
The summer represents those times and seasons that we deem to be “ours.” After a long day of work, we need alone time. We need endless and fruitless hours to watch television, movies or completely watch meaningless videos on You-Tube; you know, spending time watching people live their lives and purpose, even financially supporting them, while we waste our lives away. Not the ant! She prepares because she understands one general truth: you cannot harvest what you have not taken the painstaking time to plant, cultivate and nurture.
This is why ants are all over and in your home. They are not mindlessly wandering; they are always seeking … always! Let me end with a strong word that I believe this proverb is making.
“The sluggard will not succeed because he, though in the image of the Creator, lives his life at a level lesser than that small, pesky, ant.”