I have always loved the person at the church business meeting who asks the most questions, and presents the most opposition to the progress the leadership is proposing (of course, I write this with sarcasm). Most of the time the person that is in this position does little or nothing by way of service in the church ministry. These seem to be the people with the loudest and will hold onto their cause the longest. Someone has said that eighty percent of the people in church do twenty percent of the work, while twenty percent are doing eighty percent of the work. I have noticed that this is true across the board. In work, on a sports team, in the doctor’s office, etc.
Today I read, “The slothful man saith, ‘There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets’” (Proverbs 26:13). Now, it is quite possible that you read that verse and say, “So what?” This verse always intrigues me as I read it month after month. What strikes me is that the verse should not end there. I think it should read something like, “The slothful man sees a lion in the way, and runs around warning people” … or “The slothful man saw a lion in the street and ran to get his gun.” My point is simply this; if you see a lion on my street, go honk your horn, or shoot a gun in the air, or sound an air horn … but please, please, do something!
The description of this person is that he is slothful. Another way to say that is that he is a sluggard. Now, that probably did not help you too much, but let me explain it to you in my common-sense way of thinking. The word sluggard is an expansion of the word “slug” (of course, you will not find this in Webster’s dictionary … you will find it in Jim Bracelin’s mind). A slug is the slowest moving thing on the earth, and is good for nothing (unless you’re on a survival show on TV and you are starving). God describes someone in this verse, who is guilty of seeing a problem, but doing nothing to make a difference, or to bring a solution to the problem.
I don’t want to be described this way in my life. I want to be someone that God can depend on to do something about the things I see around me. In a spiritual sense, I fully understand that those who do not receive Jesus Christ’s payment of His death and resurrection will spend eternity in Hell. I cannot sit here in my house, with the doors and windows closed and say, “Hell is real, and it is for eternity. These sinners living around me are going there.” I cannot sit by and allow them to go to Hell without trying to convince them to trust Christ! If I don’t hand out a tract; cross the street and witness to my neighbor; or share my faith in Christ, I am the same as the slothful man described in this verse. Today, get up and do something!