I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Proverbs 24:30-31
Picture a man walking in the countryside past one little farm after another. It’s a beautiful walk. First, he goes by a field of ripening corn. Then he goes past a vineyard, with clusters of grapes hanging from the branches of the vine. Then he goes by a little orchard.
“It’s going to be a good harvest,” he says to himself, “and when it comes, these people will be blessed.”
But then he comes to a field that is overgrown with thorns. The ground is covered with nettles. And the stone wall around the field is broken down. The tragedy is not just that the sluggard has failed to provide for himself but that he is not able to contribute to the needs of others.
“The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back” (Prov. 21:25-26). Notice the contrast between the sluggard and the righteous: The righteous has a good harvest, and he is able to give to others. But the sluggard did not plow, and now he has nothing to give.
God gave the sluggard a field that would produce all that he needed for himself and more that he could have given to others. But he did not use what God had trusted to him.
Love is the great biblical motive for work. The motive for work is not simply that I will have something to eat, it is that I will have something to share! Love is the great motive for all of our work, and it begins with our love for God.
As you work today, remember your motivation—God’s love for you, your love for Him, and the opportunity to share with others.
