Read
The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Proverbs 13:4
Reflect
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 ask if there was extra credit or if they could work on something for another class. At the end of the year, they didn’t have to worry about summer school. They knew exactly what they would be doing with their 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 a failing grade. It always confounds me that none of these folks seem to grasp that the opportunity to succeed was there all along — if only the student had made an attempt.
Of course, students are not the only ones who do this.
Adults can be just as gifted at delaying responsibility, avoiding work, and hoping for a last-minute rescue from the consequences of our own neglect. We put off hard conversations. We delay acts of obedience. We ignore work that needs to be done. We crave the harvest while neglecting the field.
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.
Proverbs 12:24 even seems to address the issue of summer school: “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.”
That is certainly how it can feel when a student spends June or July making up work that could have been finished in March.
Proverbs 10:26 puts it even more bluntly: “Lazy people irritate their employers, like vinegar to the teeth or smoke in the eyes.” Laziness does not merely hurt the lazy person. It frustrates the people who depend on them. It damages trust. It weakens our witness. It tells the world that our comfort matters more than our calling.
As people who follow the path of the Lord, we should avoid laziness, sloth and procrastination — not because diligence earns God’s love, but because diligence is one way we honor Him with the opportunities He has already placed before us.
Lord, help us not to crave the harvest while neglecting the field. Teach us to begin when the work is placed before us, to be faithful in the ordinary assignments of life, and to trust that diligence done for You is never wasted.
Enjoyed this? Subscribe and get future reflections, bourbon notes, and assorted nonsense delivered straight to your inbox.
Reflection copyright © 2026 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.
