Thought from today’s Bible reading from Proverbs 19-21.
The sluggard is mentioned several times in the book of Proverbs. In this passage, we learn something else about him.
“The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, so he begs during the harvest and has nothing” (Proverbs 20:4).
We understand that the sluggard has nothing and is forced to beg because he refuses to work. Other passages also make this point. But this verse builds upon that truth and teaches us something else.
This verse mentions a time of plowing and a time of harvest. We do not get to decide when these seasons come based upon what is convenient for us. These seasons occur when they do because of the natural laws which God established from the beginning. Therefore, if one fails to take advantage of the time of plowing, he will have nothing at the time of harvest. Even if the sluggard repents of his slothful ways at the time of harvest, he will still need to live with the consequences of his sin during the time of plowing.
This principle could be extended to many things in life:
- If we fail to plow, we will have nothing at the time of harvest.
- If we fail to save for the future, we will not be prepared when emergencies arise.
- If we fail to train our children when they are young, we will have a very difficult time training them as adults.
- If we fail to study the Bible, we will not be equipped to teach others, resist temptation, or combat false teaching.
- If we fail to receive correction and discipline, we will not become the strong, mature Christians God wants us to be.
Do not let the times of preparation pass without using them to get ready for the future. Otherwise, we will be at a great disadvantage later, no matter how much we regret our earlier slothfulness.
Tomorrow’s reading: Proverbs 22-24
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
