Laziness

'Tis the voice of the sluggard; I heard him complain,

"You have waked me too soon, I must slumber again."

As the door on its hinges, so he on his bed,

Turns his sides and his shoulders and his heavy head.

"A little more sleep, and a little more slumber;"

Thus he wastes half his days, and his hours without number,

And when he gets up, he sits folding his hands,

Or walks about sauntering, or trifling he stands.

I pass'd by his garden, and saw the wild brier,

The thorn and the thistle grow broader and higher;

The clothes that hang on him are turning to rags;

And his money still wastes till he starves or he begs.

I made him a visit, still hoping to find

That he took better care for improving his mind:

He told me his dreams, talked of eating and drinking;

But scarce reads his Bible, and never loves thinking.

Said I then to my heart, "Here's a lesson for me,"

This man's but a picture of what I might be:

But thanks to my friends for their care in my breeding,

Who taught me betimes to love working and reading.

by Isaac Watts

    I really like that poem. Probably because I memorized it at one point. I also like that poem because I like what it talks about.

    Sluggardly-ness (or laziness), is a big problem for humanity. It is the desire not to work or expend energy- wanting to do nothing but sleep and sit. This becomes a big problem for individuals when this desire conflicts with the pursuit of necessary and good things, like health, relationships, beauty, cleanliness, godliness, etc. That list could be much longer, and the problem of laziness doesn't stop there. It must be solved then. How does one go about that? Let's think about it...

    The essence of being a sluggard lies in a desire to do nothing. It isn't exactly apathy, because laziness also tends to care about comfort, but it does share some of apathy's qualities. The more you give in to either, the more you get dragged back by them. They also share a destructive quality.

    In the poem by Watt, the story about the sluggard comes to a part where the onlooker passes the sluggard's garden. Gardens are great, they are meant to be pretty and productive, but this person's garden is overgrown and untended. It is entirely unproductive, and is even making thorns. The sluggard is physically decaying, living in ragged clothes, and he is financially dependent on others, who are industrious enough to have a surplus. The next verse talks about his mental decay, in his focus on comfort and his neglect of his Bible and his faculties. Now, this is not a real story, so we cannot say that this is what happens to everyone who is lazy just because a poem said so, but I think if we look into ourselves we can see the truth of what the poet is saying. Laziness in work, physical care, financial endeavors, and thinking, and Bible study- these are real threats to our integrity.

     How do we guard against the threat? There are a few routes: you can choose not to guard, and just fall into laziness. That works for many modern people, but given God's words about it, I would say this is unwise. You could also choose to make a rule for yourself not to be lazy- in other words, take the legal approach. You have rules, standards, boundaries, and those are your focus. This approach, if you haven't already seen it, is a legalistic approach, and the flesh automatically rebels and sabotages it. The way that is best is the way God provides. Walk in the holy spirit. Follow where God takes you. He leads you to the work he has laid out, and you can know that he will always give you the right kind of rest in the right proportions.

So, this is the conclusion: laziness is bad. It has debilitating repercussions. We don't want to be sluggards. The best way to avoid being a sluggard is clinging to God, fearing him, and following him. That is my two cents.