Memory Verse: For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10.
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 6:6-23; 15:18-21, 31-33; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
Introduction:
Some misguided souls erroneously believe that following the Lord somehow releases them from worldly duties and responsibilities. Certain capricious young men have chosen to enter the ministry, not really to serve God but rather as a means of avoiding “secular” work. A pastor, they feel, should never be required to get his hands dirty. Imagine how surprised a lot of overseas missionaries would be to discover that they were not meant to engage in any sort of physical labor, after having helped dig a well, build a road, or erect a church building, or any other tasks that is set before them to do. A lot of church houses even inside the United States were built with the assistance of a hammer-wielding preacher or other men of God with talents enough to work, build, or do what needed to be done and still deliver the Word of God from the pulpit on Sabbath.
God Himself established a pattern for work during the six days of creation. Moreover, He put man on earth as a caretaker. If you owned a large estate and hired a grounds man, would you keep him on the payroll if he did nothing but sleep in the garden under a shade tree? The first human couple was told to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…” (Genesis 1:28b). Why this need to subdue the earth? There are three action verbs in the preceding sentence and action requires work. It meant that we were to act as managers who have the authority to run things as God planned. Are we lazy? Are we sluggards? What is the difference? Are we concerned with our sleep, or do we desire to cause trouble? Fools do not know the extent of their ignorance and continue to pursue folly. These are not the ways of righteous men. However, as workers for Christ we are people with an understanding heart, diligent to be wise and we are never satisfied with what we know. Our pursuit of wisdom and knowledge is a life-long occupation—never fully realized in this lifetime.
Sometimes through disability or disease a person is rendered incapable of working. When people are truly in need and unable to provide for themselves, concerned Christians will want to render assistance, but charity was never intended to be forever, nor idleness meant to become a permanent way of life. Today in America and other countries of the Western world, there are second, third, even fourth generation “welfare” families who believe it is their indisputable right to draw state and federal assistance from more productive members of society, how tragic a waste of human resources to see able-bodied men and women living off of others. There were even freeloaders in the early church and the apostles had to deal forcibly with the problem.
Study Questions:
- What becomes a man who is lazy? Proverbs 24:30-34. Note: The only concern the lazy have is for a little sleep.
- What happens to idle men? Proverbs 15:19; 18:9. Note: The word slothful means a person who is “known to be slack,” as in reference to a lazy person.
- Can some women become idle? 1 Timothy 5:13-16. Note: Paul was concerned that younger widows would not have enough to do and would then bother everyone else with worthless talk or even harmful and disruptive words. Do you think this is true only of young widows in our world today?
- What should be done with children in a Christian home to assure they are instilled with godly work principles? Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:1-4. Note: Here is balance in God’s word. Lessons learned in childhood will last a lifetime. A pattern established early in life may continue to mark a person for his or her lifetime.
- Can a person form a habit of being idle and lazy? Proverbs 10:1, 4; 20:4, 11-13. Note: Even at a very early age, a person’s moral character may be revealed.
- Since a man must consider himself to have nothing and be merely a steward of things which belong to the Lord, how then must he regard that which has been entrusted to him? What is the end result of slothfulness with regard to property? Ecclesiastes 10:18. Note: All forms of laziness bring houses and lives into disrepair leading only to poverty, while hard work is necessary to make a living.
- Young people would often rather turn away from honest work to sow a few “wild oats,” what warning should be given to them? Proverbs 1:7; Ecclesiastes 11:9-10; Ecclesiastes 8:2-8; Ecclesiastes 12:1. Note: This is not an invitation for our youth to live sinfully but to enjoy themselves completely while not forgetting that God will review the quality of their life. Youth does not last; we get old too soon and we get smart too late.
- What are some of the causes of hunger in the world? Proverbs 6:8-9; 10:5; 19:15. Note: The Proverbs call for mercy and compassion on the poor and the weak, but only contempt for the lazy.