Daily Devotional
               Betty Miller shares her daily devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in the Bible.   

  The Wisdom of God

Verses for the Day:

Proverbs 18:9(KJV): "He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster."

Proverbs 18:9(Amp): "He who is loose and slack in his work is brother to him who is a destroyer (and he who does not use his endeavors to heal  himself is brother to him who commits suicide.)

Thoughts for the Day:

This verse in Proverbs tells us that a slothful person is kindred to one who is wasteful and a destroyer. What does the word slothful mean?   The dictionary tells us that it is laziness or indolence. One of the reasons for poverty is laziness. The scripture says that one will become poor, if he deals with a "slack hand."  This means being remiss about the things that we have charge over by "falling down" on the job, or "slacking off" in our work duties. Many people in today's society have this type of approach to their jobs.  They do the least amount of work that they can do, without jeopardizing their job. These kind of people will always be poor and have to accept the lesser paying jobs because they will never be promoted. 

Proverbs 10:4-5:
4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

I remember years ago, I hired a young man to hoe the weeds from my front yard. When I came home and saw what kind of job he had done, I was very frustrated and upset.   He left a third of the weeds in the yard and they were not small ones. I immediately had to ask God to help me with my attitude toward this young man, whom I had paid above the average wage. Since he attended our church and was a Christian brother, I had expected a good job.  As I was talking to the Lord about the situation, I remember saying, "Lord, if I would have done this job there would not have been a weed left in this yard."  I heard the Lord speak very clearly to my spirit, "Betty, that is why you are not hoeing weeds for a living. You must pray for this young man and this generation of youth, as many of them have not been taught a good work ethic and they do not know how to work."

Please do not misunderstand me; hoeing weeds is an honorable job.  In fact, if you did a good job of yard work, soon your work would be in demand, and you would have to hire additional workers to help you, and you would be able to demand top wages for your work. This would be true for any job if you do good work.  Joseph in the Bible was an example of a good worker.  Everything he did prospered.  Even when he was jailed wrongly, he was promoted in the jail (Genesis 39 & 40).

Genesis 39:21-23:
21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.

However, many of the younger generation were not taught proper work habits and now have difficulty in holding a job. Of course this is not true for all of our youth, as there are many who are exemplary in their work habits and they are to be commended. However, children's messy rooms are a symptom of how a generation of parents has neglected to teach their children this truth while they were growing up. Many parents just joke about the condition of their kid's rooms, when they should be training them to keep them tidy.

We are instructed in Proverbs 22:6 to "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when his is old, he will not depart from it."

The key in this verse is the word "training". Training involves more than just teaching. The best teachers teach not only the procedure for doing a job, but also a set of values for producing that job.

Whatever reasons we give for our neglect in training our children, the truth is we did not take the time needed to train our children properly. We are a world in a hurry which is a big hindrance to good workmanship. Slothfulness, shoddy workmanship and disorganization reflect a lack of caring. Many people take short cuts that hamper the quality of the job, just to finish the task so they can eliminate any problems of the moment. Later the job must be repeated which wastes time because the job was not done right the first time.

We need to teach our children not only how to do a good job, but also train them to do their best. Teaching is simply communicating knowledge, while training involves conveying a value system. Good teachers who teach moral values along with proper instruction produce quality schooling and the best workers. If we as parents compromise in our lifestyles and work ethics before our children then we communicate those ideas to them. If we have been deceived or perhaps have just become negligent in any area pertaining to our work ethics, we could be guilty of hurting our children or our witness for the Lord.

Our study verse tells us that the slothful or sluggard is a great waster and destroyer.  He will not only suffer personally, but hurt others as well.  A slothful person is one who is lazy and irresponsible.  They are always running into trouble, because they fail to take their responsibilities in this life and there is a penalty to pay for ignoring them. He is a great waster. The Lord demonstrated his attitude against waste, as after He miraculously fed the five thousand, He commanded his disciples to gather up the remains. John 6:12: "When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost."

Are we being wasteful? Are we lazy or slothful on the job? Are we giving a day's work for a day's pay?

Ecclesiastes 9:10: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."

Proverbs 21:25 "The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour."

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you that you have given us a job and a task to do.  Lord, let us not view work as a drudgery or an evil; rather, let us be grateful that we are able to work.  Lord, let us work with joy, and not complain and whine about our lot in life.  Let us realize that we are working for You and You shall promote and reward us, even as You did Joseph in the Bible.  You use men as instruments of blessing in our lives, and let us also be instruments of blessing to others. In our work places let us be a blessing to those around us, and thank You for blessing us too. Strengthen us for each day's tasks.  Lord, use us each to contribute our portion to making this world a better place.  I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.