Laziness

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. Proverbs 26:15-16 ESV

 When these two proverbs are put together, the former one exposes the ridiculousness of the latter one. The sluggard might, if he could be bothered, be a self appointed expert/keyboard warrior with an opinion on everything. And yet he's too lazy to even eat! 

The first proverb seems too ridiculous to be true- that someone would be too lazy to eat. And yet I think of the most extreme examples of gaming addicts. They are so addicted to their computer games that they can't be bothered eating! 

The sluggard might think he's got all the excuses he needs in his armoury for his laziness. But even if he's wiser in his eyes than seven sensible people, in God's eyes he's a fool. We don't want to be in God's bad books! 

A sensible man knows there's no excuse for laziness. If he does occasionally have an unproductive day, he will hold his hands up and admit it. But the sluggard is full of self justification, even when he would be condemned by God if he didn't repent.

 "Oh Yahweh Almighty, help us to be sensible and productive people. Please don't let us be lazy and self congratulatory. For Jesus' sake, amen"