Proverbs Laziness Test

The Book of Proverbs in the Bible is pretty clear why laziness leads to poverty and why the "slacker" deserves the problems and harsh realities of what should befall them in life if they chose to be lazy. If you are not sure whether you are lazy, I came up with a Proverbs laziness test to help you.

Step 1: Are you unaware that laziness makes you poor?

Proverbs teaches that the lazy lack the sense or judgement to know that too much rest (or laziness) will lead to poverty.

Proverbs 24:30-34 — I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

Step 2: Do you sleep longer and deeper than most other people? 

Another sign of laziness is sleeping too long and deep. Back before the days of food stamps and welfare, it also lead to hunger. While this still holds true in many places in the world, in America and other developed nations, the one whom works hard, takes care of those that do not.
Proverbs 6:9 — How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?
Proverbs 26:14 — As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.
Proverbs 19:15 — Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry.

Step 3: Do you come up with excuses to get out of work?

Proverbs 20:4 — The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!" or, "I will be murdered in the streets!"

Proverbs 26:15 — The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.

Step 4: Are you the only one who thinks you are wise?

 

Proverbs 26: 16 — The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.

Step 5: Do you prepare for the future?

Lazy people do not prepare for the future.
Proverbs 20:4 — A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.

Step 6: Do you really want to do better for yourself, but just can't find the will to do so?

The lazy person wants more in life, but cannot obtain more because they are too lazy to do anything about it.

Proverbs 21: 25-26 — The sluggard's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.

Step 7: Does it feel like your road in life is filled with impossible obstacles?

Laziness takes away the ability to remove life's obstacles.
Proverbs 15:19 — The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.

Step 8: Do you live a destructive life that frustrates those who love you?

Maybe the most compelling truth that Proverbs teaches us about laziness is its destructiveness and the frustration and irritation it causes for others.
Proverbs 18:9 — One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.
Proverbs 10:26 — As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him.
Does more than 3 or more of these steps describe you? If so, please pray that God gives you the strength and ability to overcome laziness and make a new commitment to God and yourself to turn your life around.

by James Apple Jr.

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