BEWARE
OF TOO MUCH EASE
BREAD
9 How
long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your
sleep? 10 A
little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- 11 and
poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. Proverbs 6:9-11 (NIV)
8 “Keep
falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me
only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say,
‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of
my God.” Proverbs 30:8-9 (NIV)
4 The
sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully
satisfied. Proverbs 13:4 (NIV)
4 A
sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds
nothing. Proverbs 20:4 (NIV)
5 The
plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. Proverbs 21:5 (NIV)
4 Lazy
hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. Proverbs 10:4 (NIV)
30 I
went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks
judgment; 31 thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered
with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a
lesson from what I saw: 33 A
little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- 34 and
poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. Proverbs 24:30-34 (NIV)
10 God
is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as
you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We
want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make
your hope sure. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate
those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Hebrews 6:10-12 (NIV)
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew
that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered
seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on
deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back
with interest.’ 28 ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the
ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and
he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be
taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside,
into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Matthew
25:26-30 (NIV)
16 And
he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain
rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to
store my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will
tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain
and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of
good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very
night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have
prepared for yourself?’ 21 This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for
himself but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21 (NIV)
18 But
remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce
wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it
is today. Deuteronomy 8:18 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Blessing,
ironically, can dull our spiritual senses and deplete our spiritual resolves.
And it can open us to new and subtle temptations. Powerful men fall into this
trap over the histories of Scripture. King David, for instance, defeated his
tens of thousands with a heart like God’s, only then to crumble before another
man’s wife while he enjoyed the comforts and spoils of his victories. The
adversity and vulnerability of caves drew the best out of him, while the luxury
of his palace exposed the worst.”
Marshall
Segal
“A noted scientist
observing that ‘early voyagers fancied that the coral-building animals
instinctively built up the great circles of the Atoll Islands to afford
themselves protection in the inner parts,’ has disproved this fancy by showing
that the insect builders can only live and thrive fronting the open ocean, and
in a highly aerated foam of its resistless billows. So it has been commonly thought that
protected ease is the most favorable condition of life, whereas all the noblest
and strongest lives prove on the contrary that the endurance of hardship is the
making of the men, and the factor that distinguishes between existence and
vigorous vitality. Hardship makes
character.” Mrs.
Charles E. Cowman
“A
life lived for Jesus Christ is not usually outlined with popularity or ease.
But churches in the West today are steeped in comfort, espousing self-help
rather than sacrifice, and they are growing in number.” Michael Youssef
“The worst
of sluggards only ask for a little slumber; they would be indignant if they
were accused of complete laziness. A little folding of the hands to rest is all
they desire, and they have a host of reasons to show that this indulgence is
entirely legitimate. Yet by these ‘littles’ the day runs out, and the time for
work is all gone, and the field is overgrown with thorns. It is by little
procrastinations that men ruin their souls. They do not intend to delay for
years—a few months, they say, will bring the more convenient season—tomorrow
they will attend to serious things; but the present hour is so occupied and so
unsuitable that they beg to be excused.
Like sands from an hourglass, time passes; life is wasted by driblets,
and seasons of grace lost by little slumbers. Oh, to be wise, to catch the
fleeting hour, to use the passing moments! May the Lord teach us this sacred
wisdom, because otherwise a poverty of the worst kind awaits us—eternal poverty
that will want even a drop of water and beg for it in vain. Like a robber
steadily pursuing his victim, poverty overtakes the lazy, and ruin overthrows
the undecided: Each hour brings the dreaded
pursuer nearer; he doesn’t pause on the way, for he is on his master’s business
and must not delay. As an armed man enters with authority and power, in similar
fashion want will come to the idle, and death to the impenitent, and there will
be no escape. O that men would become
wise and would diligently seek the Lord Jesus, before the solemn day will dawn
when it will be too late to plow and to sow, too late to repent and believe. In
harvest, it is useless to lament that the seedtime was neglected. As of now,
there is still time for faith and holy decision.” C. H. Spurgeon
“Some
of the darkest, most irresistible temptations come in the wake of blessing. As
we enjoy some provision or breakthrough or triumph, whether in life, or work,
or ministry, our spiritual defenses often come down. We might coast. We may
begin neglecting disciplines and relationships that have kept us close to and
dependent on Jesus. Suffering, by comparison, often has
the opposite effect. Suffering simultaneously raises our defenses (vigilance),
and brings us to our knees (humility). Suffering disabuses us of self-reliance,
and removes the luster of earthly pleasures and indulgences. Suffering often
makes spiritual and eternal reality more vivid and tangible, putting the
urgency of earthly life in greater perspective and focus.” Marshall Segal
“Worldly
ease is a great enemy to faith; it loosens the joints of holy zeal and snaps
the sinews of sacred courage. The balloon never rises until the cords are cut;
affliction provides this service for believing souls. While the wheat sleeps
comfortably in the husk, it is useless to us; it must be threshed out of its
resting place before its value can be known. Thus it is good that the Lord
tests the righteous, for it causes them to grow rich toward God.” C. H.
Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg
“When people ask about healing, I’m less interested in the
physical and more interested in healing my heart. Pray that I get rid of my lazy attitude about
God’s Word and prayer, of brute pride – set me free from self-centeredness.
Those are more important, because Jesus thought they were more important….God
will permit what he hates in order to accomplish what he loves.” Joni Eareckson Tada
HEART SAVOR
- An easy life rarely (if ever) produces a mighty oak of righteousness
- Storms in our lives are designed to make the roots grow deep.
- Many temptations come in the wake of blessings.
