Proverbs 26:14

As a door turns on its hinges,
    so does a sluggard on his bed.

The thing about doors is that they don’t actually go anywhere. People will go in and out of doors. People will get somewhere, but the door itself just swings back and forth—open and shut and open again. Doors don’t get out much. They don’t accomplish much. People and life, so to speak, pass them by. Sadly, so it is with the sluggard.

Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly—life to the full. A full life is not a frantic life, nor is it a door-hinge life. An abundant life is not one that is merely jam-packed, nor is it one of rolling from side to side on one’s bed. A full life consists of days full of meaningful activity for the Lord—days that leave you tired and ready for the rest that a good night's sleep brings.

The character of that meaningful activity will vary from person to person. Meaningful activity for a student will be different than it is for a young mother or for the elderly who are past the years of gainful employment. What the writer of Proverbs holds out to us all here is an invitation, by way of contrast to the sluggard, that we live each day to the glory of God—all the while enjoying Him in the process.

Doing so will actually get us somewhere. In this life, it will get us the joy that comes from doing the Lord’s work and the satisfaction of being engaged in kingdom-service. This is not works-righteousness. It is, however, part of what discipleship means—that we would not simply watch life pass us by.

Jesus calls us, so far as we are able, to take up our mats and follow him. Doing so will also get us somewhere in the next life as well. It will not be the sluggard who hears those glorious words: "Well done my good and faithful servant." Rather, it will be the one who wakes up and upon whom Christ shines (Ephesians 5:14).