the curse of laziness

I don’t know about you, but I’m a procrastinator. Anytime I have a paper due, you’ll find me cranking it out the day it’s due. Not because I forgot about it, I just simply procrastinated till the last minute. So I’m normally stuck cramming it out hours before the deadline. One thing I’ve learned is that I’m not able to do my best work on my papers because I’ve waited till the last minute. At that point, the focus is on just barely meeting the criteria for the paper. All too often I let laziness prevent me from turning in a paper that I’m ultimately proud of. When I start a paper way ahead of time, I am less stressed and proud of the paper I’m turning in. I’ve taken the time to cultivate and create a paper that meets the requirements and then exceeds them.

I think laziness seeps into a lot of different areas of our lives, not just school. It can affect relationships, mental health, physical health, cleanliness, and so many other areas. The devil uses laziness to keep us from our God-given potential. Laziness robs us of our potential. 

Proverbs 19:24 says, “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.”

This illustration that Solomon used in Proverbs 19 creates a picture of a man who has food in front of him, yet won’t bring his hand up to his mouth in order to eat the food. Showing, the lazy man will go hungry. 

This translates to our lives today. How many times do we sit and ask God for something, expecting it to just be given to us? There’s certainly power in prayer, I'm not saying there isn't. However, I’m saying that we also have to get up and put in the work. Take the resources God has already placed right in front of us, and bring that up to your mouth. 

One area where I’ve always struggled with laziness is quiet time. There have been days where I’ve chosen to scroll through social media, rather than spend time in the word. Simply because it felt like more work than mindlessly scrolling. In all honesty, it is. It doesn’t take much brain power to scroll social media. However, I’ve found that the days where I feel the most tired and lack the desire to pick up my bible are the days I need it most. When I put aside my own selfish and lazy desires. 

See, the devil loves this. To take your tiredness and your laziness and separate you from the wisdom of God. By separating you from God's wisdom, the devil can separate you from your God-given purpose. Without God’s wisdom, we lack the ability to recognize our full potential. You can have knowledge, yet have no wisdom. Wisdom is when knowledge becomes applicable. 

Don’t let laziness rob you of your potential. You were made for big, big things. Figuring out our God-given purpose takes wisdom. Wisdom takes discipline, and laziness and discipline cannot coexist.