On The Job

Read Proverbs 10

Lazy people irritate their employers, like vinegar to the teeth or smoke in the eyes.

Proverbs 10:26

Laziness is its own self-condemnation. Laziness brings poverty (Proverbs 10:4). The homes of the lazy fall into disrepair (Ecclesiastes 10:18). But today’s proverb is not directed at just the lazy. It is a warning to others. Lazy people are an aggravation to those who must deal with them, like smoke in the eyes or a fingernail scratching a chalkboard.

Employers hire workers to work. Employees who are lazy, who don’t do their job, cause frustration to set in. The natural response of an employer is to fire lazy workers because they don’t do what they were hired to do. If the natural and justifiable response of an employer is to fire them, how much more understandable is God’s response to our sin.

Sin is living, acting, and thinking in ways not intended by God when he created us. As sinners, we should expect nothing less than expulsion from God’s presence. What is surprising is that despite God’s “irritation” with us, he pursues us for the purpose of bringing us back to him. That knowledge is a lesson for us. Though some people may irritate us to the point of distraction, we must still love them and work to bring them into God’s presence.

A WORD FOR TODAY

Laziness invites unemployment.

Today, Lord, may I be patient with those around me and love them as you have loved me.