16/01/2011 - THE LAZY AND THE DILIGENT

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The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. (Proverbs 13:4)

There are two types of people in the family of God: the doers of the Word – winners – and the lazy, who are losers. It should not be like this because the Lord loves all His children equally. However, the laziness to go to God’s house to participate in the service where the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray and to read the Bible also leads many people to achieving nothing but scarcity of resources, illnesses, sinfulness and other kinds of problems. Laziness is a victory of Satan in the lives of many children of God.

The spiritual lazy are similar to the materially lazy. There are many people who could change completely. I wonder how many of them could, in a short period of time, get a better job if only they decided to study hard and prepare for life! Some may even think of doing this, but then they are taken by indolence and say they are too old to learn new things and that their commitment will count for nothing. They have wishes as anybody else, but they are overcome by the sin of not willing to struggle.

Both the material and the spiritual life are hard and difficult. He who is not strong and does not have good courage will achieve nothing. That’s what happens with pastors whose churches are empty and never see miracles taking place in his ministry. Some of them will even accuse those who have done the work of the Almighty successfully of being ill-intentioned or used by the devil. How can this be? They do nothing and get nothing for their people, but they believe to be God’s envoys. If this was true indeed, what could be said of those who help people be delivered from diseases and sins and who lead multitudes to salvation? That they belong to the enemy?

The diligent person is a winner because he searches the Word and learns from it. Furthermore, he is an observer and doer of the divine will; he is not lazy when he needs to wake up in the middle of the night in order to go up to God in prayer. He does not complain about being in the presence of the Almighty for a long time, about fasting once in a while or crying out to the Lord until the answer comes. Taking the prophet Daniel as an example (Daniel 10:2-3), he who is diligent stays as long as it is necessary in the presence of the Almighty. He who strives has one aim only: to know and to do God\’s will; his soul fattens – that is, he is filled with goods and accomplishments. For him, what matters is victory and victory only.

The diligent is never in need because he is guided by the Holy Spirit. It\’s like David\’s servants, who broke into the ranks of the Philistines to fetch water, risking their own lives when that man of God had only longed for the waters of Bethlehem (I Chronicles 11:17-18).

The next time you feel the breath of the Lord asking you to believe in His Word and do His will, do not be lazy. In doing so, you will be victorious!

In Christ with love,

R. R. Soares