Sobering Thoughts

"He who is slothful in his work
Is a brother to him who is a great destroyer."
Proverbs 18:9

So, this week was finals week. I studied fairly hard, to pass a class I had no interest in taking in the first place, to learn a subject I have no aptitude for. Such is life. I came across this verse today, from Proverbs chapter 18. Now, I have read Proverbs at least a hundred times; but perhaps the fact that this week was finals week prompted me to do a study on it.

Who do we think of as Destroyers? Right off the bat, most of us would say Hitler, Castro, Mao Zedong, Ceauşescu, and Stalin. Dictators and Murderers, destroyers of lives and freedom. Could I take it a step further? Who is the ultimate Destroyer? Satan, of course. Right about here, my train of thought screeched to a halt and I experienced mental whiplash. 'Woah, God, wait a second. You can't possibly put being slothful in near the same category as being like Hitler, or Satan, can You?' The thought horrified me. I mean, I nearly lost it just thinking about the many times I've been slothful in my work. I pulled out the dictionary to do a little research.

Destroyer: 2. a person or thing that destroys (I don't think the military definition applies.)
Synonyms- arsonist, brute, demolisher, savage, terrorist, wrecker, vandal, wild man.

Slothful: disinclined to work or exertion; "faineant kings under whose rule the country languished"; "an indolent hanger-on"; "too lazy to wash the dishes"; "shiftless idle youth".
Synonyms- ambling, apathetic, bone-lazy, cadging, do-nothing, faltering, flagging, foot-dragging, good-for-nothing, idle, inactive, indifferent, indolent, inert, lackadaisical, languorous, lax, lazy, leisurely, lethargic, shiftless.

I went to Mom for some wisdom and asked to hear her thoughts on this. She asked me where being slothful lead to. Let's take slothfulness of mind, for example. If a person is slothful in guarding their hearts and minds from immoral influences, they will become immoral, wicked beings. After all, Hitler was once a child. He was once a person whose mind was not poisoned against all that is good and pure. If not for the grace of God, we could all be Hitler. Here's one that hits too close to home with me. Being slothful with my time. A person who wastes their time is a person who is wasting their life. If the only things worth doing are the ones that count for eternity, we should avoid wasting time like the plague. It's enough to cure you of several lifetimes of addictions to Buzz. And a whole lot more.

Anyway, that's my sobering thought for the day. Summer is practically here, and I'm done with school. I'm praying that I won't waste the free time I now have by lazing around being slothful and doing nothing for the Lord. I pray that you also will be actively engaged in living for Him. I can hardly wait to read Proverbs 19 tomorrow. Read proverbs, friends, a sobering thought per day helps keep temptation at bay.