Do you ever stop and look around at the world that we live in today and think, “What on earth happened to make everyone so lazy?”
There are “Help Wanted” signs everywhere you look. The retail stores have terribly long lines with very few cashiers. The drive-thru lanes at fast-food restaurants are piled up with cars waiting. Grocery stores look bare because there are no employees to deliver goods or to stock the shelves. If you haven’t noticed these things, just give it time.
We are living in a world where fear of so many things is dictating how people live and especially how people work, or shall I say, “Not work.” Some people are quick to offer an excuse while others are quick to rebut with the fact that they are hard workers and unwilling to sit around and do nothing.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 states that “Whoever keeps staring at the wind won’t sow; whoever daydreams won’t reap.” That is pretty much the biblical version of what my parents used to tell me when I was “supposedly” doing my homework…
“You will never get it done if you just sit there and stare at it!” They were right! I have more than one old report card that reflects my lack of discipline concerning homework.
Henry David Thoreau, the American poet and abolitionist once said, “You can’t kill time without injuring eternity.” That’s a simple but clear picture of what we are experiencing today. The problem lies in whether or not we realize or care just how much the lack of work will directly OR indirectly affect other people, and whether we will respond in apathy.
The things that we do, and more importantly, DON’T DO, have a lasting effect on our life, as well as others. As always, it is important to look at the spiritual aspect as well.
We are called to be “workmen that need not be ashamed.” Workmen that strive to present ourselves before God as ones who have followed His word and sought to do His will.
When we neglect to “sow” according to God’s word, we will never know whether the things we have neglected to do have impacted someone in a bad way or changed the course of how God’s will would be accomplished.
Apathy toward the command of God to “sow” and to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others is nothing more than complete disobedience. Regardless of the reasons why or the excuses. We are ultimately killing time and injuring the eternity of those that we have been called to lead to Christ. That is why we should always “Commit our work to the Lord,…” (Proverbs 16:3)
For when we are faithful in ACTIVELY WORKING for the kingdom of God, He will bring His will to pass through us. Remember, it’s far better to “redeem the time” rather than to “kill time.” Now get to work!
