Go to the ant, you sluggard;

consider its ways and be wise!

It has no commander,

no overseer or ruler,

yet it stores its provisions in summer

and gathers its food at harvest. Prov 6:6-8

The sluggard craves and gets nothing,

but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. Prov 13:4

The way of the sluggard is a hedge of thorns,

but the path of the upright is a highway. Prov 15:19

(author’s translation)

The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!"

or, "I will be murdered in the streets!" Prov 22:13

I went past the field of the sluggard,

past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment;

thorns had come up everywhere,

the ground was covered with weeds,

and the stone wall was in ruins.

I applied my heart to what I observed

and learned a lesson from what I saw:

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest—

and poverty will come on you like a bandit

and scarcity like an armed man. Prov 24:30-34

As a door turns on its hinges,

so a sluggard turns on his bed. Prov 26:14

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;

he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. Prov 26:15

The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes

than seven men who answer discreetly. Prov 26:16

You’ve felt the urge before; you’ve attended the soft voice that says: "The messy garage will still be there tomorrow; the chaotic closet won’t run away. You’ve done enough for today. Leave that weedy flower bed till the weekend. Wait a few more days for the rest of the bills to arrive, and then you can pay them all at once! If you wash the car now, it’ll rain, and then where will you be? Rest up for tonight’s party; you don’t want to appear haggard. There’s enough time to prepare the house after you’re feeling refreshed!"

These seductions routinely beset a character the proverbs call the sluggard. We’re apt to laugh in sympathy with the sluggard’s feeble struggles to develop personal industry. After all, don’t we know too well the sensual pleasures of a catnap? The proverbs laugh too, but it’s more a snicker of scorn. The proverbs in this study afford a bracing look at the sluggard, his prospects, and a few correctives that will save us from his fate.

1. What tasks are you most tempted to put off until tomorrow?

2. Read the proverbs above. Which proverbs match up with the following characteristics of the sluggard?
Never finishes things:
Fond of sleep:
Rationalizes:
Believes his own excuses:
Never starts things:
Never satisfied:
Works harder than a diligent person:
Give one additional characteristic:

3. Which of these characteristics of a sluggard seemed unexpected to you?
Explain.

4. In these proverbs, what character qualities are contrasted with sluggardliness?

5. Why would a sluggard work harder than anyone else (that is, when he or she works at all)?

6. Describe one area of your life where two or three characteristics of a sluggard are evident (for example, housework, desk, various chores, yard work, grooming, wardrobe and so on). Be honest!

7. How does the example of the ant in Proverbs 6:6-8 highlight one remedy for sluggardliness?

8. How would you apply the remedy suggested by the ant to the one area of sluggardliness you mentioned previously?

9. How is the poverty that overcomes the sluggard like a thief? (What characteristics, for example, do such poverty and a thief have in common?)

10. How is the poverty that overcomes the sluggard like an armed man?

11. The proverbs hold out little hope for reforming a committed fool. On the other hand, why might there be some hope for reforming a sluggard?