The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A lion is in the open square.”
Lazy folks either are, or pretent to be, overly timid, irrational alarmists.
With their vivid imaginations, sluggards fabricate bizarre excuses to avoid work.
Given their bad example, laziness becomes contagious.
Whenever a truth is repeated we should pay double attention. The text appears earlier, almost verbatim, in Proverbs 22:13. Take another look here: Are you taking the right risks?
Translation: Sluggard
The Hebrew word for sluggard, עצל (ʽā•ṣēl, pronounced “ah-tsel”), is used fourteen times in the Bible, always in Proverbs, and appears four times in Proverbs 26. It stems from the verb “to move sluggishly,” used only once in Judges 18:9, where it is translated as “be still” or “just sit there.” So, ʽā•ṣēl has connotations of delay and procrastination.
Lions and Lethargy
Having lived most of my life in Canada, I know little about lions, but I know they typically avoid human settlements. Their attacks on people usually happen in forests, far from crowds. They usually hunt at night, when people are sleeping (Psalm 104:20-23). So, there’s maybe 0.001% chance of a lion hunting in the open square in daylight. If the sluggard truly feared a lion, then the safest place would be a crowded street. The sluggard is certainly not lion-hearted. A lion may be bold, but as Charles Bridges suggests, the sluggard has a cowardly spirit.1
This sluggard sees lions (dangers) everywhere, but he overlooks the fatal danger of his own lethargy—like a parasite. Sin is a power lurking within, causing more damage than any external predator, since it’s always with us (Romans 7:21-25).
Problems: Found or Resolved?
When I was with a management consulting firm, contracted out to a multi-billion dollar offshore oil rig, we got some friction from some of the client’s staff. My boss then said something I’ll never forget: There are two kinds of people in business—problem finders and problem solvers.
Problems and opportunities exist everywhere, usually side-by-side. Some people make it their life purpose to find as many problems as they can. They find every imaginable reason why things will go wrong, and they rant on endlessly about all the risks and dangers—real and imagined.
Classic Comments
Matthew Henry (d. 1714) ties it all together:
As men’s folly makes them slothful, so their slothfulness makes them foolish.
- What the slothful man really dreads. He dreads the way, the streets, the place where work is to be done and a journey to be gone; he hates business, hates everything that requires care and labour.
- What he dreams of and pretends to dread—a lion in the way. When he is pressed to be diligent ... this is his excuse ... There is a lion in the way, some insuperable difficulty or danger which he cannot pretend to grapple with. Lions frequent woods and deserts; and, in the day-time, when man has business to do, they are in their dens.
Problems and the Promised Land
According to this proverb, a lazy person amplifies and even invents problems, rather than “just doing it.” Instead of applying the SIB-KISS principle (See it Big—Keep It Simple, Stupid), problem-finders circle back to all the vague possibilities and reasons why something can’t be done.
Talkative sluggards pose another problem: Others believe them, discouraging action.
We find a biblical example in the account of the twelve Israelites, spying out the Promised Land. Only two had the courage to proceed. The other ten spoke of “giants in the land,” who made them feel like grasshoppers, and cities with walls “fortified to heaven.” They inflated the threats to justify their sloth (Numbers 13:25-33 and Deuteronomy 1:28). As a result, God kept them all exiled in the Wilderness for forty years, until the old generation died off—a major liability.
Laziness or sloth is really a lack of confidence in God’s Providence, His ordering and empowering His own noble endeavours and our own. We trust our own imaginations and inertia, in resisting His great adventures.
Entrepreneurs
The road and the open square are places of transit and trade, byways and markets. So sluggards cut themselves off from opportunities to give and receive benefits. They avoid the marketplaces by their own choice. Their spirits are cowardly, rather than entrepreneurial. Real workers take risks.
Our Maker, Saviour, and Friend
Jesus feared no one, other than His Father.
Even His enemies said, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances,” (Matthew 22:16).
Jesus was certanly NOT lazy.
- Memorize the text in your favourite Bible translation and think about it often.
- Test market your products/services. Don't be afraid to get out into the marketplace for a reailty check. It may be painful but it will be helpful.
- List your fears. Then, beside each fear, mark down the probability of it happening. What does each fear prevent you from doing? How does it limit you?
Which of these steps, if any, does Jesus want you to take now? Ask Him.
Related Illustration1. A Modern Study In the Book of Proverbs. Charles Bridges' Classic Revised for Today's Reader by George F. Santa Mott Media 1978