“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep—so will your poverty come upon you like a stalker, and your need as an armed man.”

— Proverbs 6:10-11

Proverbs contrasts the diligent one who will succeed with the sluggard who will fail. By a person’s diligence, his indefatigable keeping at his tasks, his lack of slothfulness, his rising early, and his attending to the minute details of his affairs, he gains for himself and for his family wealth.

The one who deals with a slack hand, one who by design is lazy, will not have what he needs. Now there are those that might look at some who are profligate in their great wealth and spend their money luxuriously and foolishly, but the Bible says that the poor man who is slothful is a brother to the man who is a great waster. The Bible says further that the sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold, therefore he shall beg in harvest and have nothing.

The desire of the slothful kills him for his hand refused to labor. The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty and drowsiness shall clothe a man in rags. The slothful man says there is a lion in the streets, so he can’t work. As the door turns upon its hinges so does the slothful man upon his bed. Another thing about the slothful man we are told is that he obstinately refuses to be corrected and because he refuses to be corrected, he does not improve, and he continues in his poverty and his misery. May God give us the grace to work diligently to not only provide what we need and to generously provide for others. May he also make us teachable.

Lord, You told us to go to the ant and be wise. Like these little creatures we should work hard and plan for the future. Help me to be diligent today in all my tasks…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN PRAY FOR
THE FUTURE AND ENTRUST IT TO HIM.