Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Laziness

Episode Date: February 23, 2023

In this episode Jonny Ardavanis looks at five realities regarding laziness in the book of Proverbs:The lazy person makes excuses - Proverbs 26:13The lazy person loves ease - Proverbs 26:14The lazy person doesn’t finish what they’ve started - Proverbs 26:15The lazy person is self deceived - Proverbs 26:16The lazy person needs to be prodded - Proverbs 6:6-9Furthermore, Jonny examines the cost of laziness and briefly covers the cure to laziness.Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artivanis and this is Dial In. We are on episode two of a short series on work, laziness, rest, and time management. Apparently, the subject of work garners much interest, as the previous episode was our most shared episode to date. I do hope this series does encourage you, whether you are a stay-at-home mom, a surgeon, or a server at a restaurant. Furthermore, I hope that in this series, we see the unfailing relativity of the scripture to speak to every single area of our

life, including that of work. With that being said, let's dial in. Now, in our previous episode, we talked about the goodness of work. You and I were made to work. Therefore, the goal of life is not longer weekends and shorter work days and more vacation weeks. The goal of life is to honor God with our work. Sadly, a biblical worldview of the goodness of work has all but disappeared in our modern culture and even amongst those within the church. Last week, we talked about how the believer is to do their work with enthusiasm. Colossians three says that we are to work heartily as unto the Lord. Working heartily means that we are to work with a level of gusto. We're to work with enjoyment, meaning that the follower of Jesus is not to mope throughout their work day or work week,

but to enjoy what they do because they realize that work is a gift from God. And when we view our work as a gift, even the mundane elements of our life can be done with joy. Third, we are to work with excellence, meaning that work, which is truly Christian work is work. Well done. Christian should be the hardest workers in their environment. They are not less motivated and more entitled in the world around them. They are more motivated than anyone else because they desire to work with excellence for the glory of an excellent God. And fourth, we looked at the Christian is to work with integrity, that all of their work is to be done before the eyes of their maker. The Christian doesn't ultimately work for their boss or their supervisor or their CEO. The Christian ultimately works for the king of the universe. And consequently, they work as if God's eye is always upon them.

Therefore, they work with integrity. Now, if God so highly values the institution of work, what naturally then is he going to be wildly displeased by? Laziness. Laziness is bad, not just because it is unproductive, but because it reflects poorly on the God who made us in his image and who calls us to represent him in our work. When God made Adam and Eve, he didn't place them on a beach, but where in a garden. And he put Adam and Eve in the garden to work it. And they were to do so together, exercising dominion and subduing the earth is not something Adam could do alone. He needed a helper. He needed the woman. Now, as we approach the subject of laziness, I want to look primarily with you at the book of Proverbs. I love the book of Proverbs. The Bible is not full of just highbrow doctrine to be discussed, but full of intensely practical

realities that are profitable for our lives. And throughout the book of Proverbs, we find ourselves often looking at the subject of laziness. Now, in this episode, I want to lay out five features of the lazy man or the lazy woman as seen in the book of Proverbs. And I'm going to look primarily at Proverbs chapter 26. First of all, we're going to see that the lazy person is someone who makes excuses. In Proverbs 26, 13, it says, a lazy one says, there is a lion in the road, a lion in the public

square. Now, as we talk about laziness, we need to understand that the lazy person is an excuse maker. And amongst those who are lazy, there are different types of laziness in our life and different manners of laziness that the scripture addresses. The Bible speaks to physical laziness, to mental laziness, but also to spiritual laziness. I want to briefly examine all three of those before we jump in any further. First of all, I want to examine this physical laziness. We'll cover this in greater detail at another time, but for now you need to understand that your physical life is a spiritual matter. Meaning this, how you steward your body, how you steward your health matters to God. Matthew Henry once said

that bodily ease is the sad occasion for many spiritual diseases. Meaning that when God created us, he created us body, soul, and mind, and we cannot divorce our spiritual lives from our physical lives and how you steward your body is a spiritual matter. But the lazy person in Proverbs is a sleeper and a sluggard. He may know that exercise improves his health and lengthens life, but that isn't enough to motivate him to get out of bed or get off the couch and steward the only body that God has given him. Now, of course, there are people that listen to this podcast that have disabilities or diseases or recently delivered a child who are experiencing seasons, if not years on end of not being able to

exercise. But that differs from the lazy person who doesn't steward their health as a way in which they honor the Lord. We'll talk about this more as we go, but for now, physical laziness, as I said, has multiple ripple effects. The second being mental laziness. We live in an environment addicted to entertainment. The creation of human beings made by an intelligent creator is often referred to as intelligent design because the God who made us is intelligent. But sadly, those whom God made with the ability to think, create an engineer are those who have become accustomed to turning their brains off. And because of this, many today can be described by living a life of mental laziness. Now is relaxation wrong? No.

Is watching a movie wrong? No. But is watching too much TV so much so, or looking at your phone so much so that you sedate your brain and waste your time and forfeit usefulness for Christ. Is that wrong? Well, biblically speaking, yes, it is a vile, wicked, and ungodly sin. Christians do not check their brains at the door when they come to Jesus. They steward their brains and fight off mental laziness. Sadly today, many know more about the horrors of Hollywood than they do about the gospel of John. Many can name all the former relationships of a celebrity, but couldn't tell you what's happening in the world around them. Christians can't be shrewd as serpents if they are mentally lazy as sloths. So what's at stake if you are mentally lazy?

Well, John Owen gives us the answer. He says, slothful and lazy souls never obtain one view of the glory of Christ. Those who don't exercise their minds cannot possibly possess deep thoughts about God's holiness and consequently can never begin to grasp the depths of his love. And when our view of God's character is shallow, we perpetuate our mental and moral laziness because our understanding of God's righteousness is starved. And consequently, the stewardship of our minds is deficient. The second component of laziness is linked closely with our third. So we looked at physical laziness, mental laziness, and now spiritual laziness. The lazy person says that it's too hard to read their Bible in the morning,

so they'll read it at night, but at night they're too tired. So instead of reading, they stay up late watching television, which perpetuates their inability to wake up early and dive into God's Word. But you can't be a mature Christian and be lazy. You can be a Christian and be lazy, but you cannot be mature or godly and be lazy because laziness and godliness are antonyms. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ, by very definition, means to be a learner, a student, which necessitates hard work.

As A.W. Pink once said, no verse of scripture yields its meaning to a lazy person, meaning that the treasures that are within God's word are only available to treasure hunters. Proverbs 3 talks about this when it says that those who want to acquire wisdom must search for it as hidden treasure and pursue it with all of their heart. This takes work. Picking up the armor of God, fighting the flesh, fleeing temptation, evangelizing the lost, employing your spiritual gift, and making no provision for the flesh

can only be done by those who fight spiritual laziness. This, by the way, isn't just a problem for young people, but for seasoned veterans in the faith as well. And as we saw in verse 13, the lazy person makes excuses about their laziness, whether that be physical, mental, or spiritual. I can't go to church. I can't get out of bed.

I can't find a job. Why? Because there's a lion in the street, they say. But no, there's not. Secondly, the lazy person loves ease. The following verse in Proverbs 26 verse 14 says this, as the door turns on its hinges, so does a lazy person on his bed. After finding the lazy individual making up excuses because of his fear of hard work in verse 13, here we find the lazy person in their happy place, his bed, like a fan oscillating back and forth. The lazy person turns back and forth, back and forth upon

their bed. They hit the snooze bar and then burrow themselves once more under their sheets. Now we often say that the lazy person lacks drive, but this couldn't be further from the truth. The lazy person doesn't lack drive. They have an intense drive for what to be comfortable. Proverbs 13, four says that the soul of the lazy man desires, and yet he has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. The cause of laziness is a craving for comfort in Proverbs 13. Now, is it bad to relax? No, we've already said this. No, but the lazy man, the lazy woman loves to relax. He craves ease. He wants everything in his life to be smooth and easy, but everything good in life is on the other side of hard.

Often I think people confuse God's will for their life with whatever option before them is the easiest. But biblically speaking, the path God leads his children on are often paths of great difficulty and crowded with challenges. People who love ease and comfort will find it very difficult to live the Christian life. Christians are called to work hard, which often means rising early and serving late. Nothing good in life is easy. Even things or relationships that may come naturally to you require work, discipline, and dedication. Now, third here, the lazy person doesn't finish what they've started. If we look at the following verse in Proverbs 26, 15, it says,

a lazy one buries his hand in the dish and he is weary of bringing it back to his mouth again. Now, how many of you are familiar with the holiday that takes place on January 12th? This is known as National Quitters Day. Twelve days into the resolutions that many have made for the new year, they're over. And Proverbs often speaks to the reality that the lazy person who may sprint out of the gates is too lazy to finish the job. They may put their hand in the dish, it says in verse 15, but they're too lazy to bring it back to their mouth. Are you this type of person? Proverbs talks about this likely in regards to work, but this could be with anything in life. They don't finish what they've started.

The lazy person likes the idea of completing hard tasks. They start them, but they never finish them. Whole 30 turns into whole three hours of good intentions. P90X turns into P3X. Diet to diet, book to book, Bible reading plan to Bible reading plan. It doesn't matter what it is. The lazy person doesn't finish what they started. Listen to what Proverbs 12, 27 says in this regard.

It says, the lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt. Now, I'm not much of a hunter and don't frequently roast any game, but the verse we just read needs closer examination. The proverb in chapter 12, verse 27 said, the lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt, meaning that the lazy person stops short

of what is actually necessary to provide him with any sustenance. He doesn't finish what he started. He kills the animal, but he doesn't cook the animal. As mentioned, I'm not much of a hunter. So I asked my friend Ty, who is a hunter, what's involved between the killing of the animal and the actual consumption of the animal. And here's what Ty said. The process between killing an animal and having it as a meal involves several important steps to ensure the meat is safe and properly prepared for consumption. The first step is field dressing, which involves removing the entrails and other internal organs from the animal as soon as possible to reduce spoilage.

The next step is proper cooling, either through hanging the animal in a cool place or refrigerating it to slow down the growth of bacteria. Once the meat has been chilled, it must be cleaned and processed, which often involves removing the skin and bones and any remaining fat. Finally, the meat must be cooked to a safe temperature to kill any harmful bacteria and parasites that may be present. Throughout this process, it is important to maintain the highest levels of hygiene to ensure the meat is safe to eat and free of any contaminants. But the lazy person does not roast his game. Neither does he cut it, gut it, drain it, or carry it back to his home. He's too lazy to cook his own food. And because of this man's laziness, he will die. In fact,

this is exactly what Proverbs 21 verse 25 and 26 will say, which says the desire of the sluggard puts him to death. Why? Because his hands refuse to work. Now the slugger dies. But if we consider the second half of Proverbs 12, 27, it says the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt, who feeds on the riches of the hunt, the diligent, but the lazy person doesn't finish what they started. But more important than money in a wallet is diligence in a man's heart. If you're a parent, other than the fear of the Lord, there is nothing more important that you could ever teach your children than to teach them diligence. So fourth here, now we'll see that the lazy person is self deceived in verse 16 of Proverbs 26. We'll look at the following verse. It says

a lazy person is wiser in his own eyes than seven people who can give a discreet answer. Seven is the number of completeness and totality. So here, when it says that the lazy person is wiser in his own eyes than seven people. It really could be a thousand men. It wouldn't matter. There is no man and no amount of men that could possibly change this foolish and lazy individual's mind. Why? Because here in Proverbs 26, 16, the lazy man or woman has a higher regard for his own

opinion than he does all of the wisdom in the world. The lazy person becomes ingenious at justifying their own laziness. In fact, as we see in verse 16, they can be confronted by seven other wise people in their life and still think that all seven of them are wrong. The lazy person hears the counsel of those around him and actually thinks they are the dumb ones and that he, the lazy one, is the only one in the world that's got it right. The lazy son looks at his father or his mother, his grandparents, and all other individuals in his life who may disagree and challenge him in rebuttals. What do you guys even know? Now, before we move on to our fifth feature of the lazy individual, I want to ask you a question. What do you have to do to be lazy?

Well, nothing. It's a default position. The longer it is indulged, the longer it is increased and the harder the habit of laziness will be to break. Furthermore, laziness is not a disease. Laziness is a sin. So to recap, we've looked at the lazy person is an excuse maker. Secondly, we looked at the lazy person loves ease. Third, we looked at the reality that the lazy person doesn't finish what they've started. Fourth, we looked at the lazy person loves ease. Third, we looked at the reality that the lazy person doesn't finish what they've started. Fourth, we looked at the reality that the lazy person is self-deceived. And then fifth, the lazy person needs to be prodded. In Proverbs 6, in verse 6, it says, Go to the aunt of Sluggard, observe her ways and be wise,

which having no chief officer or ruler prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. How long will you lie down? Oh, sluggard. When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. Your poverty will come in like a vagabond and your need like an armed man. I couldn't tell you how many times I heard my dad tell me when I was growing up, Johnny, never let the grass grow under your feet. Meaning never be so idle or sedentary or sluggish that the grass literally grows while you just stand there.

He also constantly encouraged me to be someone in life who takes initiative to be a go getter, but the lazy person, they need to be prodded. So Proverbs gives the lazy individual an object lesson. It says, go to the ant and observe their ways, hoping that this object lesson will convict them of their sluggishness. And not only that, drive them to take some action. Proverbs encourages you if you're lazy to take a field trip to the local anthill and watch the fury of activity that takes place there. Where is the one barking orders amongst the ants? Who is the supervisor that instructs the ants to prepare and gather food? What's the answer? No one. The ants are self-governing. They are self-motivated

and they are self-managed. They are always moving, always preparing and need no prodding. But the lazy person is constantly pleaded with that they might complete the work before them. Oh, please show up on time. Oh, please finish your job. Oh, son, please finish your homework. Furthermore, the lazy person doesn't like to be held accountable when they're asked, Hey, when will this be done? They just reply and say, don't worry about it. I'll get to it. They never refuse to do what they're asked, but they just put it off bit by bit and minute by minute and inch by inch. He or she, the lazy individual that is allows opportunity and their life to slip away. Now what's the cost of being lazy? Well, number one, it'll cost you poverty in Proverbs chapter 20 verse

4 it says the slugger does not plow after the autumn so he begs during the harvest and has nothing meaning that if you don't work you won't make money and you will become a beggar Paul says in the first Thessalonians that he who does not work shall not eat so So not only will laziness cost you poverty, but it'll secondly here cause much frustration. Proverbs 10 verse 26 says like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes. So is the lazy one to those who send him. You will frustrate your spouse, your children, your bosses, your church. If you are a lazy individual, it will be so frustrating. Proverbs says it'll be like vinegar to the teeth or smoke

to the eyes. If you're a lazy person, third, it'll destroy relationships. If you're lazy, Proverbs 18 verse nine says one who is slack in his work is brother to the one who destroys. Now, let me just re-engineer that verse. Who is the one who is the brother to the one who destroys? Answer, the one who is slack in his work. You are a destroyer of relationships if you are a lazy person. It says in Proverbs. You cannot love your neighbor if you are a lazy person. It says in Proverbs, you cannot love your neighbor if you are a lazy person.

Why? Because relationships take hard work. And there is no such thing as a guy who has deep community that isn't a proactive pursuer of people. No one stumbles into deep and meaningful relationships. They're fought for and worked for. And the lazy person is the brother to the one who destroys. Fourth, it'll cost you spiritual usefulness.

Paul says his life was to be poured out like a drink offering. And the Christian is described as one who is a soldier, a boxer, a runner, a farmer, and a slave. Therefore, diligence is a prerequisite to usefulness for Christ. Do you want to herald his word? Do you want to serve God's kingdom? Do you want to advance the gospel? Well, if you're lazy, it's going to cost you spiritual usefulness. But maybe you're discouraged. Maybe you're wondering and going, man, what now? Well, first, I encourage you to heed the warnings that are within the word of God. Listen to the warnings. Secondly, you're to learn from the sluggard. In Proverbs 24,

verses 30 through 34, we see another object lesson. And the wisest man in the world says, I passed by the field of the sluggard and by the vineyard of the man lacking sense. And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles. Its surface was covered with nettles and its stone wall was broken down. He's looking at this field. He's grabbing his sons and saying, I want you to look at this. And then he says, when I saw it, I reflected upon it. I looked and received instruction, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. Then your poverty will come upon you as a robber. You need to learn from the sluggard. Proverbs says that this wise man walks past the field of a sluggard. He beholds the

inevitable outcome of those who are lazy. Third, you are to seek godly counsel. Some of you weren't raised in homes that taught you hard work. Some of you didn't grow up with a father like mine, but your heavenly father issues decrees in his word, and you are to surround yourself in the context of the church with older godly men and women that can teach you to work. Fourth, you are to ask the Holy Spirit to help you. You're to take laziness to the Lord. Maybe even confess it to the Lord. God, I grew up lazy. I've become lazy.

Help me, God. Help me to be disciplined. Surround me with hard workers that can be an example to me and keep me accountable in this important endeavor. Apply the word of God to my life. Fifth and finally, you're to get rid of things that cause you to waste your time and your brain. And do it now.

The sluggard's favorite day is tomorrow. So let's commit to being hard workers and fighting laziness today. Stay dialed in.