The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl; It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. Proverbs 26:15
The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession. Proverbs 12:25
The sluggard in Proverbs is a comical figure. You can learn more about him if you go to www.biblegateway.com and search on the King James version, using words like “sluggard”, “slothful”, and “lazy.” BTW, aren’t “sluggard” and “slothful” wonderfully descriptive words? You immediately think of some of the less desireable members of the animal kingdom.
We look at him, and think, “I would never be like that.” In the one proverb above, the lazy man won’t even do that which is easy and gives immediate reward. In the other proverb, the lazy man does nearly all the work, but doesn’t finish the job, and his efforts come to nothing.
So what have I done this week?
1) I bought two shirts, and was almost too lazy to unpin them and get them into the laundry.
2) I wrote something, and almost forgot to e-mail it in time for it to be useful.
3) I almost didn’t get my lawn mowed this week because I was almost too lazy to pull the cord on the lawn mower to get it started. (Once the mower is started, my son can mow the lawn.)
Each time I noticed that I needed 30 more seconds of work to get the job done, I laughed to myself and remembered these proverbs.
I’m pretty sure that “slug” and “sloth” come from “sluggard” and “slothful,” rather than the other way around.