LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, February 13, 2025

I can honestly say that I have never been lazy. At least not that I can remember. But according to my grandkids, who can trust the memory of someone so old.

Yet while I may not have had a tendency towards laziness, I was subject to procrastination. I know, it sounds like a justification for laziness but let me explain. I have ADHD, so I am easily distracted by something else to do, and the appeal of the new overwhelms the desire to complete what is currently in front of me. Procrastination. I remained busy, so I wasn’t lazy, but important things were set aside for the excitement of new things to do.

I think both laziness and my new name for laziness are a problem. King Solomon, in all of God’s wisdom, says this in Proverbs 6:6-11. “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 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.”

After reading that I feel somewhat better about my procrastination, even though I know it reduces my productivity. You see, laziness is a more pervasive lack of motivation to engage in activities, while procrastination is a temporary delay in action, often with the intention to complete the task later. I wasn’t lazy, just distracted by other work.

The wisdom of Solomon in today’s passage deals only with laziness and is worth some soul searching on our part. Are we self-motivated? Can we see what needs to be done and then do it? Do we choose rest over work even though we are well-rested? And finally, and most importantly for me, do we choose less important and less stressful work over what really needs to be done and then justify it with a new name like ADHD or procrastination?

So how can we know if we are lazy or just undisciplined? Here’s a distinction that might help. Laziness carries no guilt with it. There is no concern that the work isn’t getting done. The pleasures of rest or recreation don’t make us feel bad. Procrastination carries guilt, and it becomes heavier until the job is done.

If you are not feeling any guilt over work that needs to be accomplished, then today’s wisdom is for you. Get up and get to it! Like my dad always said when talking to me about a job that needed to be done, and I obviously wanted to do something else – “DO IT NOW!”

So get up, get to it, and get it done. NOW! Reject your sluggard ways and start working to provide for yourself.

Pastor John