Read
The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Proverbs 13:4
Reflect
I once had a student who always seemed to put his work off until later. We’ll call him John Doe. (Truthfully, I have many students like that every year, male and female. But for the purpose of this story, we’ll group them all into a single student.) During class, I would ask him when he planned to get started on his work. “I’m about to start,” was the usual reply. Then, at the end of the class I would check my turn-in box and, sure enough, there would be no work from John.
When homework was assigned, of course, I would rarely (ever?) receive any work from John. When I’d ask about it he would say things like, “I left it at home,” or “I forgot it was due today.” Excuses were far more common than accomplishment.
Then, at the end of the each quarter, reality would set in. With his grade hovering often in the mid- to low-30s, he would come to me and ask, “Is there any extra credit work I can do to bring up my grade?” And I would guide him through the gradebook and show him each of his missing assignments, and I would remind him, “I don’t give extra credit to bring up grades. There was a lot of extra credit built into all of the assignments you didn’t turn in.”
Predictably, at the end of the year, John didn’t pass my class. Instead of spending time at the lake or the beach or some place that would have been a lot of fun, he had to spend it in summer school. What always confounded John (and all of the John Does I’ve had) is how students like Jane Doe (no relation) managed to carry an average of at least 100 percent. The Johns would say, “She’s a suck up,” or “She’s just smart.” But truth be told, I watched Jane (and all of the Janes), and I noticed that they also had a lot of time available in class. After they finished their assigned work. These students would jump into the day’s agenda immediately, and they wouldn’t stop until they finished. Only then would they even ask if there was extra credit or if they could work on something for another class. And at the end of the year, they didn’t have to worry about summer school. They knew exactly what they would be doing with the two months off, and it was never make-up work for a failed class.
Teachers of all grades and subjects will tell you similar stories. I’ve even heard of teachers receiving pleas from children and parents weeks and months after the school year ended, begging for work to help a student bring up their grade to passing. It always confounds me that none of these folks seem to grasp that the opportunity to succeed was there all along – if only the child had even made an attempt.
The Bible addresses this in numerous places, and especially in Proverbs. Today’s verse deals with this directly, saying that sluggards – or lazy people – want everything but never find satisfaction, while diligent, hard-working people tend to get everything they need. And in Proverbs 12:24, the issue of summer school even seems to be addressed: “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.”
As people who follow the path of the Lord, we should always be sure to avoid laziness, sloth and procrastination. These things do nothing to prosper us, and they also damage our witness. (“Lazy people irritate their employers, like vinegar to the teeth or smoke in the eyes.” – Proverbs 10:26 NLT) Let us always make every effort to be both wise and diligent so that the Lord may both bless our efforts and use those efforts to commend our faith to the world around us.
Reflection copyright © 2021 Doug DeBolt.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
