Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Lazy Mary


"The sluggard says, 'There is a lion in the road!  
There is a lion in the streets!' 
As a door turns on its hinges,
so does a sluggard on his bed.
  The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; 
it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.
  The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
than seven men who can answer sensibly."
Proverbs 26:12-15

Sluggard:  n. [from slug and ard, slow kind.] A person habitually lazy, idle and inactive; a drone. (Noah Webster)

Somehow lazy sounds much nicer than sluggard, but it isn't.  Sometimes I find myself feeling lazy; sometimes I find myself being lazy--okay, a sluggard.  That word really does make me want to move.  Have you ever watched a slug move?  He's slow, but there is also another quality of a slug that is disgusting:; he leaves an unpleasant trail behind him.  He's also very unattractive, a slimy sort of fellow. Does that sound like something that we want to be compared to?

These verses tell us a few things about a sluggard--a lazy Mary, if you would:
1.  Lazy Mary has an excuse (or makes one up) for her lack of discipline to get up and do what she should.  "There is a lion in the street." 
2.  She is in love with her ease, as Matthew Henry puts it.  She would rather make the effort to turn over in her bed when she gets tired of one side than to get up and do what is her duty.
3.  When she does get out of bed, her hands are so slow to move that she accomplishes nothing.  She wears herself out with the feeblest of things.
4.  She thinks she knows more than anyone else.  Her excuses to her are wiser reasoning than that of others who wisely try to counsel her.

More than just laziness for physical work, I believe there is a deeper sin that a sluggard possesses.  If one is too lazy to get out of bed, then that same person will be slack in spiritual growth, in prayer, in reading and studying  God's Word, and in ministering to a needy world.  There is no valid excuse for being a spiritual sluggard.  

Out of bed and ready for the day ahead,
Gloria

5 comments:

Belinda

Oh but Gloria....I'm so tired today.... Heh heh!

Cranberry Morning

I think you are so right, that discipline carries into all areas of our lives, even spending our time in the Word and in prayer. Good post. Glad I didn't read it yesterday when I was being a sluggard. :-) (well, I did have a migraine, so maybe that excuse helps?)

The Creative Chickadee

Just when I think I am on top of it, there are plenty of other areas I need to stop being a Lazy Mary in. Thanks for the reminder. And you are right, the word sluggard makes me not want to be one. So unpleasant.

Angelia

if i can speak for mary and myself, 'we're not early birds'..lol.
i dont wana be lazy but i work better at certain hours.

Heather's Blog-o-rama

Good words and good Scripture verses, too :) :) I myself, have to really be disciplined to get my work done, otherwise I could very easily fall into the "lazy/sluggard" category. That and I don't want my brain to turn to mush, by just sitting around doing nothing ;) :) Have a great week. Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)

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