GO TO THE ANT, SLUGGARD

Proverbs 6.6-11
GO TO THE ANT, SLUGGARD
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise! (6.6)

IN THE TRADITIONAL LIST OF "THE SEVEN Deadly Sins," together with lust, covetousness, pride and others, is the sin of sloth. Yet sloth or laziness is not often viewed as a sin. Perhaps, it is because all people are prone at one time or another to be lazy! It becomes merely a weakness, an acceptable fault.

Solomon has much to say about laziness which he personifies in the sluggard. The classic text is found here, but throughout Proverbs, there are altogether 24 verses in at least 10 passages about the sluggard. He is known for several things.

Firstly, he loves sleep. His favourite lines are "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest..." (24.33). Sleep is his chief preoccupation, in fact his only vocation. "As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed" (26.14). When you wake him on one side, he simply turns over to the other: he is stuck to his bed! As someone once confesses, "Waking up in the morning is not difficult; it's getting up."

Secondly, the sluggard gives excuses. He refuses to go out because there is a lion or a murderer in the streets (22.13; 26.13). He immobilises himself by lame excuses. He imprisons himself by inertia, with a chronic resistance to motion. "The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth" (19.24; also 26.15). He wishes for things but does nothing else about them, except wishing (13.4; 21.25-26).

Thirdly, he neglects responsibility. His field is over-run by weeds (24.30-31). The one who entrusts the sluggard with some task will only find him "vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes," when the work is found yet undone (10.26). The sluggard may not realise it, but his failure to perform his duty often means the work of others is also held up. His negligence has rippling effects.

In contrast, look at the ant! The little creature is a model of industry, discipline and foresight. It works hard, even without a supervisor. In the summer months, it plans ahead and stores food for the winter. All this while, the sluggard lazes and sleeps. While the ant looks forward to a secure future, the sluggard faces only scarcity and poverty (24.33-34). They will ambush him like bandits, and then it will be too late.

Am I a sluggard or an ant?