A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
Summary: This passage is similar to the one about ants. The difference is that instead of looking at how the ant stays busy, we look at how hunger and want surprise the sluggard.
I confess that this passage always hits me hard. There are days when I feel energetic, but there are also days when this verse describes me. I feel sluggish and tired, and it is generally hard to get motivated. Can you relate?
How are we to respond to these feelings?
There is a danger here in defining ourselves by how we feel. It goes like this: “I feel like I should be able to rest if I want to, therefore I am entitled to rest.”
Feelings are transient. They change like the wind. One minute I might be enjoying the feeling of work, the next I might resent having to work. It doesn’t matter. The work is still there either way.
One view is to look at what needs to be done and measure success by how much gets done. Another view measures success by how they feel about what they have done, regardless of how much or little has been accomplished.
Feelings are real, but they do not put food on the table. It is doing work that gets things done. And here is another mystery; sometimes when I don’t feel like working but I make myself work anyway, I find myself enjoying the work. What is up with that? How can I feel good doing something I didn’t feel like I wanted to do?
Feelings are like the smoke from a campfire. You sit down next to the fire on a cold evening and it feels great. The wind shifts and the smoke blows in your face and you can’t breathe. Yuck. You move. The smoke moves. There is a saying, “Smoke follows beauty.” (I think the guy who invented that saying was just trying to keep his wife from never going camping again.) Regardless, when smoke gets in my eyes, I want to cry.
Feelings, like smoke, change with the wind. Even the feeling of being tired and wanting to sleep. If we give in to our feelings and let them rule us, there are consequences.
Is God suggesting that we should ignore our feelings? No, of course not. Some feelings are important clues to how our body is doing or if there is danger. Other feelings help us find what we are good at doing. The important thing is that feelings alone are not a reliable guide. Feelings combined with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding (Proverbs 1:20) are a reliable guide. Not perfect. Only God is perfect. But reliable. Much more reliable than feelings alone.
Application: Choose to use more than feelings in making your next decision. Think.
Food for Thought: Why is poverty (or any other unhappy situation) a surprise to the sleeper?
The alarm goes off and it’s just so early and so cold. All you want is a little more warm, a little longer before forcing your eyes open in the light. You blink and suddenly a half hour is gone that you didn’t have to spare.
I think it’s like that. But more extreme. It’s normal that the drowsy lose a half hour. But the sluggard, loses more time than that. It’s a regular habit, however their thought is still the same, “just a little sleep” it won’t be long, then I can do this or that. They, like fools, don’t learn from the wise advice telling them to wake up. They don’t learn from having slept through a few meetings. Oh no, I promise this time it’s just a little nap…..
Their thought never catches up to reality. That’s why they’re surprised.
But is a sluggard defined only by sleep? Certainly they display laziness in more than one way, however I believe the thought is still the same,”just a little….. Then I will….” He still thinks he’ll get to it and nothing bad will happen. None of his comfort should go away. Why would food stop appearing in the cupboard? Why would the electricity stop? Why would people stop sharing with him? Don’t they know, he’ll get to that thing tomorrow and it’ll all be put right. But right now, can you pass the remote?
A –
Thank you for that description of slothfulness. I can certainly relate!
Why is it a surprise?
I think we tend to avoid the consequences of our activity – or inactivity. We intentionally don’t think about them. Consequences for any sin should not be a surprise. It should be expected. Yet many people go through their lives without giving their eternal destiny a second thought. Then they die. Then – surprise!
Ephesians 5: 11 – 18 comes to mind. Here the sleeper is told to wake up because the days are evil – we are running out of time.
Great passage, Rich. Thank you!
03-10-2022, Proverbs 6:10-11, Why is poverty (or any other unhappy situation) a surprise to the sleeper?
I agree with Rich, Just took a little longer to get there.
The sleeper cannot accept the riches of Christ, the wealth of knowledge available through the Holy Spirit, the relationship with God as we live in obedience to His will if they refuse to wake up!
The sleeper lives in sin, spiritual poverty by choice. Gods wake-up call “Conviction by the Holy Spirit” clearly forces all to rethink their priorities as He reminds each of what really matters in life. God loves the world so much he takes a constant, personal interest in each person and has paid the price for our salvation in FULL.
John 16:8-13, John 3:16
God wants to keep us close to Him, so close that we can talk with Him depend on Him, experience a relationship with Him through our entire day, every day. We cannot do this if we choose to remain asleep. Refuse to wake up and receive life through His Son Jesus Christ.
Judges 5:12, Isaiah 52:1, Romans 13:11-12, Ephesians 5:14, Luke 12:35
Thank you, Ron.
To sleep we must close our eyes. As you point out, those who live in sin have closed their eyes to the truth.
I have to agree with everyone on this one. I can picture a sluggard towards righteousness stuck in sin saying this is the last time, missing out on the blessings of being follower of Christ.
Well said, Tim!