Slack Hands – Proverbs 10:2-5

One of the main themes of Proverbs is the benefit of hard work and the downside of laziness.  One form of laziness is seeking to profit from wicked schemes to steal money from people.

Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,

but righteousness delivers from death.

The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry,

but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

A slack hand causes poverty,

but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,

but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. (Proverbs 10:2-5, ESV)

Here is a quartet of proverbs that, taken together, give us wisdom about how to pursue what we all pursue – a living.  How do we get what we need to live?  How do we have an income?

Well, we can’t resort to illegal financial gain, as so many have done, ultimately failing to profit (think Bernie Madoff in prison right now).  Wisdom calls this  “death” and urges righteousness of life.  And we don’t need to succumb to worry.  God is concerned with the needs of the righteous.  As Jesus says (Matthew 6), the Father will meet our needs because He cares for us.

What He recommends is being diligent.  You know, working hard.  And working smart.  There is a time to make the most of your work, like in the summer harvest.  If you’re lazy and don’t work hard when the opportunity for gain is best, you bring shame to those who care about you.  We need each of us to produce what God gives us to produce, whatever our job is.

He who is waiting for something to turn up might start with his own sleeves.

Many people remember President Theodore Roosevelt as an avid hunter and sportsman.  Few, however, know of his efforts for conservation, which is a far greater legacy.  After a hunting trip to the Dakota region in 1887- years before he was president- Roosevelt returned to his East Coast home reporting that trees were disappearing from the wilderness in America.  He wrote:

We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation.

He set about working to protect sequoia trees in California, to set aside nature reserves for bird and sea life, and to limit the shooting of big game.  Laws were also passed to regulate hunting practices.  Hoping for change rarely brings about change.  Work, however, generally does!