“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” (Proverbs 24:33-44 English Standard Version)
Here are two stories about two men, one an employee, and the other an enlistee in the army of the Lord; a church member.
Let’s start with the first man, an employee, well I should say, an ex-employee. Here’s what happened. Not having a car, he was blessed in that his friend, who had a car, got hired by the same employer on the same day. They had the same start date. The friend was willing to pick him up every day and take him home from work; free transportation. For the first two weeks of employment, he was always ready to go when his friend pulled up and blew his horn to signal that he had arrived. The rider, calling him “the ride” so you can tell precisely “who is who” in this story, this new employee came out each day, excited to go to work, and more excited about getting paid. However, something happened after the first two weeks on the job. At the start of the third week, the excitement had escaped to a place where it was elusive and could not be found. When his friend blew his horn on the first day of that third week, “the rider” went out and simply said, “Go ahead, I’m not going to work today.” On the night before the second day, he saved his friend some gas and called him to let him know that he was going to stay home to rest and relax. This continued throughout the third week and at the end of the week, “the rider” received a letter that told him that he was no longer employed due to his early degree of absenteeism. He filed for unemployment and showed up for the hearing at the state employment office. His request was denied. With no job, no income, and no prospect of an unemployment check, poverty came in to his life and stayed for a long visit. Oh, he had some help from caring family members for a while, but that put a strain on their budget. Tensions arose and time passed, turmoil mounted as life became more and more complicated. All of these negative consequences occurred because a little sleep turned into a lot of sleeping, a little slumber turned into a lot of sluggish naps, and the folding of his hands to rest turned into merely repeated dream after dream. But he was not chasing any dreams that were draped in success or righteousness. His decision had negatively impacted himself and others. How long did that last? I don’t know the rest of that story, but I believe that it should not have started in the first place.
Turn your attention to the second man, an enlisted brother in the army of the Lord, a member of a local church. When he first joined, his soul was on fire for the Lord. For a short period of time, he never missed church and he was involved in many of the ministries of the church. But soon, this man started to be inconsistent in attending church, started staying home to rest and relax on Saturday and the Lord’s Day, the two days where many of the church’s ministries were conducted in the community and inhouse. Soon his inconsistent attendance turned into consistent absence. He had forsaken the assembly of the saints and was no longer involved with serving the local community of believers or the community at large. Fellow saints tried to reel hm back in, but like a great fish, he resisted all efforts to be brought back to being active in the church. I believe this had a negative impact on him, his church, the community, and anyone who looked up to him as a model. How long did that last? Again, I don’t know the rest of that story either, but as with the first story, I believe that it should not have started in the first place.
Meditate on the stores about the two men. You determine the morale of the stories. Let the text, as well as these true tales, speak specifically to you. Now don’t start rationalizing to the point that you enable any behavior that describes how rest and relaxation gets in your way of doing what you promised when you declared, “I give myself away,” or “I’m on the battlefield for the Lord.”
One last word, appropriate for Saturday. Don’t find yourself resting and relaxing tomorrow, Sunday, for the two hours that you can worship the Lord, our God, the One who has blessed you over and over, and over and over, and over and over! Don’t make it a lazy Sunday! Be blessed!
“God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings.” (I Peter 4:10 The Living Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King