Let the Sloth Series Begin!

It looks like March will be all about sloth...and not the furry kind shown above.  I figured that picture was more attractive than what the sluggard or slothfulness looks like in my life...

And I know what you're saying..."Aww, what a cute puppy picture!  Why didn't you use that?  It's way cuter than that sloth."  Well, because that's no puppy in the photo, folks...that's my ugly mug.

Or I might not have wanted you to have a warm, fuzzy reaction to the idea of laziness.  It was one of those two.

Anyway, for this week, I just want to lay out what will be coming your way, the main truths I found as I studied Proverbs, underlining any verse that mentioned sloth or the sluggard (and a few others without those direct words that really jumped out at me as related).  Here are the categories that the verses seemed to fall in, and the truth they seemed to tell:

1. Sloth is bad...lazy only sounds like fun.
2. Lack of diligence does not equal boundless leisure.
3. Diligence is the opposite of sloth, and it brings the good.
4. But diligence isn't doing it all, all the time.

Next week we'll tackle the consequences of sloth and prolonged laziness as laid out in Proverbs.  For today, I want to share the verses from my study...Enjoy!

• 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 comes upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man (6:6-11).
• A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.  He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame (10:4-5).
• Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him (10:26).
• Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense (12:11).
• The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor (12:24).
• Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth (12:27).
• The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied (13:4).
• The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway (15:19).
• Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger (19:15).
• The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth (19:24).
• The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing (20:4).
• Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread (20:13).
• The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty (21:5).
• The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor (21:25).
• The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!  I shall be killed in the streets!" (22:13).
• I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.  Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. 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 (24:30-34).
• A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls (25:28).
• The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road!  There is a lion in the streets!"  As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.  The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it ears him out to bring it back to his mouth.  The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly (26:13-16).
• Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty (28:19).
• She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness (31: 27).