What is very interesting about the sluggard is that he or she is active and focused on planning. One would think that this would not be the case since, in the last section, we spoke of the sluggard being a procrastinator. But what must consider is that, while he is a procrastinator, he is selective in his procrastination.
To view the sluggard as absent minded, merely living in the idyllic scenes he imagines within his mind would not only miss the sluggard but would lack the discernment to notice sluggardom in ourselves. The sluggard is not task-less. He would be the first to orchestrate and organize a plan. His shelves might be filled with the latest books on time management and personal development. He would know a lot about a lot of things. He is no dummy; he is not mindless nor is he ignorant of right or wrong. He will know what is best for himself and, if you let him, for you too! But, he lacks something critical To explain this critical lacking let me move into transparency time.
A few years ago I began to think seriously about my weight and the need to become healthier. Eating right and exercising were my main targets and focus. I read almost any and everything I could find on eating properly. There are no less that eight (8) books on my shelf on the subject, all of which I have read, highlighted, and told many others about. I listened to podcast after podcast on health and fitness as well as personal growth and development. To me they both went hand and hand. I did not think that I could lose weight and become healthy without focusing on personal growth and development. An information junkie!!
This education led to times of execution...but starts and fails. Yet, I continued to read, listen, write well developed and detailed plans and goals for my health and fitness. The problem was this: as good as the plan(s) were, I never stopped tinkering with them. Then, one day, as I was taking a walk (again, fits and starts) it was as if the Lord spoke to me these words: "Stop educating yourself and start executing your plans." That word led to several weeks of pulling back layers of myself and I came to see two realities about me that I did not like and were, to my shame, just like the sluggard. I will deal with one point now and the second in the next section.
1. The Sluggard Always Has An Excuse for His Lack of Execution
As I stated above, the sluggard is not empty of plans and dreams. The problem is that they are full of reasons why doing what they said is not the best thing to do at the moment. Proverbs put it this way:
"The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth"
(Proverbs 26:15).
Nothing says lack of execution like this proverb. But what is essential to it is the fact that a lack of execution is a lack of follow through. As a golfer I learned that, while there are many keys to the golf swing, an essential one is to follow through. You cannot swing at the ball. You must swing through the ball. Everything can be right about your swing - your set up, your grip and aim - but if you do not follow through the result will not be pretty. The truth is that it is no different in life. Follow through is prime! While I will spend some time on this a bit later it is important to note this about not following through.
"The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly
supplied (Proverbs 13:4).
Only those who follow through, who execute plans with disciplined diligence, can expect to have success in life and even in ministry. Hence, the proverb, "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" (Proverbs 6:10-11). Poverty – financial, physical, spiritual, etc., - is the result of non-execution. While success is not a guarantee, what is guaranteed is this: you be successful at anything if you fail to follow through on your plans. We will address success in greater detail in a later section.
Another Proverb that highlights the excuse making of the sluggard puts it this way,
"The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!” (22:13).
That excuse is a bit outrageous since lions would not be prowling the streets. Yet, it highlights the mental extremes to which the sluggard will go to convince himself that executing the plans he created is not as important as the time put in to conceiving them. Bob Deffinbaugh noted the following:
Those tasks which the sluggard has already started never seem to get finished. The projects
which he begins always seem to be more time-consuming and demanding than he first thought.
The sluggard does not hesitate to rectify his rash decision to begin a task by later setting it
aside. [1]
There are many problems with excuse making, but a major one is that making them only proves to others that you did not do what you said you would do. That, as heavy and hard as it may feel, portrays a character issue. The reality is that, while the sluggard may be a person of godly character, when he makes excuses - and Lord forbid he becomes known for doing such - it paints an unfavorable picture.
I have reimagined the act (dare I say art) of making excuses by seeing it as “masking eternity.” I think that is what happens when we make excuses for not doing what we say and or not following through on the call of God for and on our lives. The excuses may seem outlandish to some but, in truth, they are only highlighting our disobedience and sluggardom. If I were to offer at this point a step in fighting a sluggard lifestyle, I would say that one should repent of and then eliminate excuse making from their life. Nothing good comes from it; only poverty, lack, regret and missing the good of God for our lives and relationships.
So, please, at this point, do not start making excuses for why we have made excuses in the past. Own that you have done this in the past and then kill it (Romans 8:13, Colossians 3:5). The sluggard spirit wants you to make excuses because your excuse making is the seed that fertilizes its stronghold over your life, choking out the fruitful life and ministry the Lord has for you.
Your new identity is this: I once was a sluggard, but no more!