A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road,
    a fierce lion roaming the streets!”
14 As a door turns on its hinges,
    so a sluggard turns on his bed.
15 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
16 A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
    than seven people who answer discreetly.

17 Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears
    is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.

18 Like a maniac shooting
    flaming arrows of death
19 is one who deceives their neighbor
    and says, “I was only joking!”

20 Without wood a fire goes out;
    without a gossip a quarrel dies down.
21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
    so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
    they go down to the inmost parts.

The word ”sluggard” is both repulsive and funny at one and the same time. Or so it seems to me. The writer of Proverbs clearly does not approve of laziness. Who would in their right mind?

As I was reflecting on this reading, I happened to listen to the ‘parable of the talents’ in Matthew 25:14-30. These words of the ”master” grabbed my attention: ”You wicked, lazy servant!” (26a). This was said to the servant who ”hid his master’s money” in a hole in the ground. The thing is, we are to be diligent in making good use of the abilities/opportunities the Lord has given us.

Warren Wiersbe comments: ‘As we wait for the Lord to return, we must invest our lives and earn dividends for His glory. Christ gives us opportunities that match our abilities, and the one-talent servant is just as important as the five-talent servant. The key is faithfulness (1 Cor.4:2), for God measures us against ourselves and not against the other servants. Are you afraid to step out by faith and take some risks for God?’ ‘With the Word’, p.651.