Me a Sluggard?

Proverbs 26:15

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.

Could these proverbs—these didactic words of wisdom—be about me, the sinner? I easily assume that this sluggard is someone else, not me. I picture Jabba the Hut from Star Wars. Now that’s a sluggard. He can hardly lift his hand to even feed himself. In God’s eye we are often like this big fat ugly character because we read scripture but do not feed on it.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16–17

A sluggard is lazy and hates to work. To respond to God’s reproof and correction takes work. When we respond to God’s reproof and correction we become more equipped to do the work God has given to us. We are like the sluggard when we fail to feed on God’s word and act on it. This causes our spiritual muscles to become atrophied. We become lukewarm, ineffective, and we have no passion for God.

God wants to use us for the furtherance of his kingdom, but when we are unresponsive to His word we are useless to him. When we do respond to His word and act on it, unlike the sluggard, we become energized and more effective to do His work.

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