Couch Potato

I admit, I’ve been a bit lazy this summer. No lie, no hiding it. In all honesty, I’ve been distracted and less productive. You know God tells us basically that being lazy is just as bad as doing evil. Servants certainly aren’t rewarded if they’re not punished for being lazy–and, as Paul put it, we are truly servants of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, hard work is rewarded.

Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.”
Proverbs 12:24

Sounds to me like diligence and hard-work means success, while doing little until someone makes you isn’t the choice path. That doesn’t mean it isn’t good to rest, but sitting on a couch all day without reason isn’t right.

Jesus told more than one parable on the subject, but I love this one:

 Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”

^“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

^” His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

 ^“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

^“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

 ^“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.” Matthew 25:14-27

I sure don’t want to be the “wicked, lazy” servant who didn’t work. Inactivity can be as harmful as doing something wrong.  Only God can give us strength to do what we need to do–even when we don’t feel like doing anything at all.