Places to go, people to see, things to do, if we do not have any plans, we make plans.
We are a people that need to be occupied, but there is a saying that fits many of us as well.
“Everything I do I rush through, so I can start something new.”
“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)
Being slothful, lazy, is not an admirable trait, yet staying busy simply for the sake of doing so can be detrimental as well. The excuse in the latter is generally, “It needs to be done,” in the former, “It can wait,” and neither has a long-standing place in the lives of those who serve the Lord.
Slothfulness is a sin in the eyes of the Lord, as well as ‘make work,’ that need to keep busy, neither will allow us to hear His still small voice. Those who feel that supposed need to keep busy will eventually start to look down upon those who will not do the same, even towards those who are not lazy, but simply will take the time to do no more than seemingly, in their eyes, sit there staring out at the horizon, for they do not understand that what is necessary is to be still.
Keeping busy is the beginning of unprofitableness, for its main purpose is meant, whether admitted by those who do so or not, to be an aversion to stillness.
In that silence, in inactivity they can find no peace.
“A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.” (Prov. 19:24)
The lazy man is useless to the Kingdom, and while he may at times perform tasks, if only in his mind for the glory of God, he does so against his better judgment, for he also serves that singular purpose that the “busy one” serves, self.
To be still is an action in itself, and requires us to stop what we are doing, whether it be work or rest, the slothful must perform, the overachiever must cease, our entire focus must be tuned to listening.
The one who relies on that “make work,” that needs to keep busy is not looked at by the slothful person in the same disparaging way, but can find no reason for their continuous actions, both are deceived, and both you can find sitting in those pews with you each Sunday morning.
“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:” (Isaiah 55:6)
Seeking is contemplating, and it is best done when we are still, not busy in work or rest. It is how we hear the Holy Spirit; it is purposeful towards a single intent.
“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” (Psalm 27:14)
One does not rest, take their ease, at the door leading to the chamber of the Most High, neither do they employ themselves to some task, waiting with one eye towards it while they attain to other so-called needs. The focus is entirely upon that door, waiting in patient anticipation for it to open and to be called into His presence.
Make work is not working for the glory of God, it is self-serving, and those trapped in it rarely see the truth of these words. The slothful person does not have the ears of his heart tuned continuously towards the Holy Spirit; he seeks rest from that which he has no intention of performing.
Those five virgins waiting at that door, the ones who had plenty of oil for their lamps, did not busy themselves with other tasks as they waited, the other five were too lazy to consider the consequences of their inactions. You must consider what you are doing and why you are doing it, and that can only be done by actively being still.
“I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” (Prov. 8:17)
