SLOTH AND ME

Jeremiah 26:1-27:22; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18; Psalm 85:1-13; Proverbs 25:16

“Then the officials and the people said to the priests and prophets, ‘This man does not deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.’ Then some of the wise old men stood and spoke to all the people assembled there. They said, ‘Remember when Micah of Moresheth prophesied during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah. He told the people of Judah, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A thicket will grow on the heights where the Temple now stands.” But did King Hezekiah and the people kill him for saying this? No, they turned from their sins and worshiped the Lord. They begged him for mercy. Then the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had pronounced against them. So we are about to do ourselves great harm.’”

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: ‘Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.’ Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.”

“Lord, you poured out blessings on your land! You restored the fortunes of Israel. You forgave the guilt of your people—yes, you covered all their sins. You held back your fury. You kept back your blazing anger. Now restore us again, O God of our salvation. Put aside your anger against us once more. Will you be angry with us always? Will you prolong your wrath to all generations? Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.”

I’ll admit it. As a child, I was one of the laziest creatures known to man. I had a decade long battle with sloth. After a long day at school, I was perfectly happy to get home, grab a snack and cozy up in front of the television. But not for long; Mom – all 5’4” of her - was a stay at home bouncer. One look at me all comfy and relaxed, and she just couldn’t stand it. “Go out and play!” Never mind my best friend went to private school and was never home by the time I was. The order, once given, was simply not to be ignored.

I learned quickly that the great outdoors actually was the safest place to be. Hiking along the creek; pretending to be a secret agent out to save the world; or just chucking a tennis ball against the back wall all were preferable practices to what Mom had in store for rebellious youths. If she ever got to feeling ignored or disobeyed, out came the dust rags, and this young man was on his hands and knees doing oh-so-useful stuff like dusting baseboards (those little trim pieces of wood covering the gaps between floor and wall). Forty to forty-five years later, although I remain intimately familiar with baseboards, I still have never looked at a neighbor’s or friend’s, let alone run my hand down them to see if they have been dusted. I’m pretty sure my own wife does not even know what a baseboard is.

Weekends, as I think I’ve mentioned before, were no time to sit back and relax, either. There was, instead, yardwork and ballgames. My parents had no trouble getting me to Sunday School on the Sabbath. It was the only chance I usually had to kick back a little and quit pressing so hard to accomplish something. My parents actually were pretty smart in all this, though. Because amidst the hard work, I found personal accomplishment and a healthy sense of pride, and the sloth in me finally just up and died.

As difficult as I thought I had it back then, looking back, it’s interesting to see how those early experiences molded me. Today, I can hardly sit down or stop, except to sleep. If I finish my list, I have an uncanny knack for finding additional things to do. This truly does make my wife crazy. She is the most balanced person I know and thinks nothing of a 30 minute powernap whenever the urge strikes. My borderline obsession with keeping busy causes her to shake her head in sad dismay. There is more to life than a to-do list.

I know my wife is right. For example, she made me stop working outside after about six to seven hours in the 100+ degree heat today. It was a good thing she did, too. I was seriously tired and dehydrated. She nearly had to sit on me to get me to do it, but I even lay down on the sofa and closed my eyes… for about ten minutes. Now, I’m writing when I should be resting, and she’s in the blog again! Serves her right.

I’ll freely admit to being too driven. I was trained by the best. However, there have been times in my life where the only thing that saved me was my work ethic. Oh, I took some heat for it, especially when I busted the curve in high school…. Not the way to win friends or influence your peers, not at that age. When the heat was on and I had to put up or shut up, though, I was always ready. I also actually remember deciding not to do several things when I had the time, only to not have the time when they absolutely had to be done. Those were always frustrating situations, knowing I’d blown the chance to do what needed to be done when it would have been easier. My motto has become, “If it can be done now, go ahead and do it. You’ll probably be glad you did. At worst, the task will be complete.” It’s not a bad mantra.

I don’t pretend to be much of an example for anybody else. But I do know this. When Christ comes, or if He calls me home tomorrow, I don’t want to have a long list of things I wish I’d done to present to Him. I want to be used up and totally spent. I want to be caught up. I want to have taken advantage of every opportunity. Because more than anything else, when I finally do come before my Lord, more than anything else, I really want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”