Don’t be Lazy
6: 6-11
A proverb is a short and memorable saying designed to be our blueprint for living in the world that ADONAI has created. It is important to note that proverbs are not promises; they are generally true principles, all other things being equal.
This is the father’s ninth teaching (to see link click Aj – Proverbs for the Youth). In 6:1-19, Solomon gives us wisdom about three types of foolish men: the security (6:1-5), the sluggard (6:6-11), and the troublemaker (6:12-19). The next topic that Solomon tackles is laziness. Like the matter of putting up security for another (see Bd – Avoid Foolish Financial Entanglements), his advice concerning laziness anticipates extensive advice in the latter part of the book. Proverbs is intolerant of lazy people; they are considered the epitome of foolishness. The quantity of proverbs on laziness and hard work is surprising (10:4-5 and 26; 12:11, 24 and 27; 13:4; 14:23; 15:19; 18:9; 19:15 and 24; 20:4 and 13; 21:25; 22:13 and 29; 24:30-34; 26:13-16; 27:23-27; 28:19). With the call to go and observe the activity of the industrious ant, we see here an example of the importance of observation in the development of wisdom principles. We are therefore not surprised to find the following description of the wise woman in 31:27: She watches over the affairs of her household and does not suffer from laziness.141
Solomon directs his hearers’ attention to the ant. A study of the ant’s behavior will direct the lazy person to grow wise. As we will see, in this case growth in wisdom means giving up lazy patterns of behavior and adopting a hardworking lifestyle similar to the ant. Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise (6:6 NLT). What characteristics does the lazy person display? Think of the way syrup oozes slowly out of a bottle when it is cold. That’s the lazybones – sluggish and slow and hesitant when he should be decisive, active, and direct. His life motto is, “Don’t rush me.” The Bible says: As a door swings back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in bed (26:14). He is lazy, constantly making the soft choice, losing one opportunity after another, day by day, moment by moment, until he lies there helpless in his wasted life. The people in life who succeed (for the most part) are those who can do what they don’t want to do. You spend ninety percent of your life doing what you don’t want to do, so you can spend ten percent of your life doing what you want to do. The lazybones spend ninety percent of his life doing what he wants to do, and ten percent of his life doing what he has to do.142
What does Proverbs say about the lazybones? Three things: First, the lazy person will not make up his mind. You lazybones, how long do you sleep? When will you wake up (6:9 NLT). The accusing question of how long presumes that the harvest has been in progress for some time, and, unless decisive action is taken immediately, judgment will fall. The rhetorical question implicitly warns the lazybones to repent of his foolishness and to get up quickly and redeem the time before it’s too late. The question, together with the repeated vocative “you” lazybones aims to wake him up out of his lethargy and, demanding an answer, holds him accountable. Here the full thought is: When will you wake up from your sleep and work?143
Second, the lazybones will not finish things. On the rare occasions when he finds the motivation to get going, it’s too much for him, and the impulse dies: Lazy people take food in their hand, but don’t even lift it to their mouth (26:15 NLT). He does not stick with a task all the way through to completion. He is a shallow person.
Third, the lazy person will not face reality. Rather than embrace the challenge of life, he dreams up excuses: A lazy man says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed if I go out into the street” (22:13 CJB). A lion walking along on Main Street? I doubt it. What’s really out there is life: a job, work, commitments, responsibilities, and a relationship with Yeshua.
What should the lazybones do? Go to the ant and take notes. How humiliating! The lazy person probably wouldn’t mind learning from C. S. Lewis or Max Lucado. The lazybones like to debate and speculate about theological issues with his buddies. But Lady Wisdom (see Am – Lady Wisdom’s Rebuke of the Foolish) is saying, “Go watch the ant.” I don’t know anyone with a PhD in Antology. We all want to study big important things. And it is doubly humbling to go to an ant school, because the Hebrew word for “ant” is in the feminine gender. But we guys need this, because we are too often passive. We are so accustomed to being wait-and-see, hang-back, and critical and guarded that we do not even feel the shame of it anymore (see thelionwithin.us). The congregations of God filled with men energized, men working, men engaged, men with intensity, men of conviction and action – that is exactly what the world needs to see in us today. But to display Messiah strongly, we need to humble ourselves and admit our need and accept ADONAI’s simple remedy. It is so humbling that we, whom Ha’Shem created to rule over creation, need to learn how to live from an ant.144
What then can we learn from an ant? Three things: First, inner motivation. “Though they have no chief, officer, or ruler . . .” (6:7 NLT). This verse describes the ant as not having hierarchy in its social structure. The fact that modern scientific study has uncovered hierarchy in an ant colony is beside the point. This information was not available to the ancient Near East observer, so Solomon is speaking from the point of view of naïve observation. And without obvious social structure these creatures cope quite well.145
Second, hard work. They labor hard all summer (6:8a NLT). Under that hot sun she scurries around and gets the job done. You are at a Fourth of July picnic, you are relaxing, but the ants are carrying off the sugar one grain at a time, and they will be back for the Fritos. In 30:25 ants are described as having no strength, thus their success in gathering food is based on their diligence. I don’t know if ants sweat, but if they do they don’t care. They don’t complain. They are not above hard work. In fact, they seem to love it!
Third, future preparation. Gathering food for the winter (6:8b NLT). The ant works today for tomorrow. She is not hoping that life will go her way. She gets out ahead of the next season of life. Here is why that matters to you. There is a winter blast coming your way. I don’t know when, I don’t know how. And you don’t need to go looking for it. For it will come and find you. But your winter of discontent is coming. Are you getting ready, right now on this day of harvest? Are you stocking up on God’s Word? Are you exploiting today as an opportunity from God to become wisely prepared for tomorrow? One year from now are you going to be more fruitful for ADONAI? How will that happen? What is your plan?146
The final three verses apply the lesson of the ant to the lazy person by way of contrast. While the ant is industrious, those who are lazy are ridiculed for not getting out of bed. But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up (6:9 NLT)? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come on you like a thief and your need like an armed man (6:10-11 BSB). As is typical of the overall teaching concerning laziness in the book of Proverbs, this section uses hyperbole and satire in the attempt to motivate those who are lazy to get to work. Verse 9 contains taunting questions, while verse 10 creates an imaginary statement of a lazy person. The lazybones says he just wants a little sleep, but we suspect that a little nap will become a long sleep to avoid the necessary work to sustain life. Verse 11 describes the results of a lazy lifestyle, which is poverty. In the first place, the onset of poverty is likened to a thief, and in the second place, it is likened to an armed man. In both cases, the simile describes individuals whose arrival threatens harm. It also suggests that poverty will sneak up on the lazybones suddenly. Again, the function of this description is to serve as a warning, with the hope that those who have the tendency toward laziness will stir themselves to get up and work.147
Dear heavenly Father, praise You for being so wonderful that it is a joy to labor on Your behalf. For you as Your child, I have many joys and perks. But whoever did receive Him, those trusting in His name, to these He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). Joys include: sonship (John 1:12), salvation (Acts 16:31), no shame in believing on Messiah (Romans 10:9-11), companionship and a friend always nearby (Hebrews 13:5c), a Heavenly Father whom your child can always run to for comfort (Psalms 23:4), wisdom (James 1:5) guidance (Exodus 15:23, John 16:13), a rest/trust in you that brings salvation (Isaiah 30:15), gladness (Psalms 30:11!
What a joy it is to minister for such a loving heavenly Father. It is not work to serve You, it is a joy. A time of rejoicing in the privilege of serving such an awesome Lord and Savior! We love You for clothing those who love You in Messiah’s righteousness. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). May I follow Your obedience, no matter the cost of shame or pain, I look forward to living in heaven with You. Let us run with endurance the race set before us, focusing on Yeshua, the initiator and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame; and He has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1c-2). In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and the power of His resurrection. Amen
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