The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing. Proverbs 20:4
This proverb draws attention to the long-term effects of putting off the things we need to do. There is a season for plowing, there is a season for sowing, and there is a season for reaping. But plowing is hard work, and the sluggard does not want to do it.
When God’s people came into Canaan, every family was given a plot of land. God gave them homes that they did not build, wells that they did not dig, and vineyards that they did not plant (Deut. 6:10-11). God gave them the means of sustaining themselves. Everything they needed for life was theirs. Their part was to work the fields that they had been given.
So, working the fields that God had given was the work God had called His people to do. But the sluggard is slow to start. He “does not plow in the autumn.” When the harvest comes, and all of his neighbors are bringing in the grain that will sustain them, the sluggard has nothing.
Proverbs draws a contrast between the person who does not prepare for the future and the insects who do: “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest” (Prov. 6:6-8).
Tiny insects are wise enough to know that you need to prepare for the future. They work without supervision. They see what needs to be done and they get on with doing it. But the sluggard delays, postpones, and procrastinates. “It’s not good weather today, I’ll get around to my plowing tomorrow,” and of course, he never does.
Is there a project or initiative that you’ve been putting off? Stop making excuses. Get started on it this weekend.
