The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!” – Proverbs 22:13 (NIV)

The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. – Proverbs 22:13 (KJV)

52 Proverbs in 52 Weeks – Week 38
This week’s theme:  God’s Life Hacks, simple Biblical truths to increase the fruitfulness and happiness of our lives.

God’s Life Hack:  Don’t Make Excuses!

One of the recurring themes in Proverbs is that hard work and diligence lead to success, while laziness leads to poverty and failure.  This week’s verse adds a humorous perspective to this theme, and speaks to the lengths that some will go to make excuses for laziness.

The term “sluggard” is used 14 times in Proverbs (NIV) to describe a person who is habitually lazy and loves to sleep rather than work.   Here in Proverbs 22:13 the sluggard makes a ridiculous excuse for not going out to work, claiming that there’s a lion outside in the middle of town (“I’ll be killed in the public square!”).  Of course, even in Biblical times lions weren’t known to roam cities, and everyone else in town seemed to be able to work safely.  But in the mind of the sluggard his excuse makes more sense than the actions of the hard workers around him (see Proverbs 26:16).  This example of a silly excuse to avoid work is repeated almost identically in Proverbs 26:13 (NIV), but this time the lion is roaming the streets instead of the middle of town:
A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!”

Although most of us have never used the risk of a lion attack to avoid doing something, we can be just as guilty of making excuses to avoid work, homework, chores, volunteering, helping others, etc.  It’s too hot.  It’s too cold.  I’m too tired.  It’s raining.  The work is too hard or there’s too much of it.  My teacher/boss/coworker doesn’t like me.  It will take too long.  I have too many other things to do.  I’m not good at it.  I’ll just wait and do it later…our list of excuses is almost endless.  But Proverbs 22:13 warns us that excuses are a tool of the sluggard.  On the other hand, diligence is a habit of the successful (recall our post on Proverbs 10:4).

So…Don’t make excuses!  Instead, let’s follow the mantra of Colossians 3:23 (NIV):
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters

Here’s a link to more verse posts on  God’s Life Hacks.

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