Shall We Sit Idly? (Proverbs 6:6-11)
In the spring of 2011, my family moved to Florence, Alabama, so I could teach at Heritage Christian University. My family loved Alabama. My kids went to Mars Hill Bible School, a private, church-operated school. Tammy subbed some, but mostly stayed home and took care of us. We had a great church home. We were very happy.
Then came the meeting with Dr. Bill Bagents, our Vice President of Academic Affairs. Bill told me that my time at HCU would end at the conclusion of the current semester. Now, Bill fought tooth and nail to keep me, and he was devastated I was leaving. However, the college president decided he needed to cut my position to save money.
Bill wasn’t the only one devastated. I went home and burst into tears telling Tammy about my meeting. The boys were crushed. Wilson sat in my lap the night we learned the news, hugging me, and crying, “Daddy, what are we going to do?”
Have any of you been fired from a job you loved? Did any of you support a loved one when he or she was fired? How many of you have been laid off from a good job? Did any of you retire and think to yourself, “Now what do I do?”
Solomon said what to do: “It’s time to work.”
Scripture (Proverbs 6:6-11)
verses 6-8:
Since the ant shows initiative, Solomon used her as an example for the sluggard. The ant doesn’t need someone to tell her to work; she merely works. The ant has foresight to get ready for the future.
The sluggard, on the other hand, shows no initiative; he allows opportunities to pass him by. Further, he doesn’t prepare himself for his future.
verses 9-11:
The sluggard prefers sleep over the real world. He doesn’t wish to participate in life, connect with others, or plan for his future.
As the sluggard sleeps, poverty comes upon him like a robber. The Hebrew depicts poverty getting nearer and nearer the sluggard, prowling until he overcomes him.
Application
Solomon wanted his son to work instead of sitting idly. Are we, as a church, engaged in God’s work, or are we sitting idly as people go to hell? “It’s time to work.”
God values work in his kingdom. “My beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58). “Let us not grow weary of doing good” (Gal 6:9). “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed” (2 Tim 2:15).
How can you get to work?
One: Bug
Look at the Bug: “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise” (Prov 6:6).
Go to a Bug. Examine workers—ants—in God’s kingdom. Paul: “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Paul would willingly give up his life to teach the gospel; what will you give up to teach the gospel?
Look to workers in the vineyard. Emulate the example of those working hard.
Two: Boss
The ant has no Boss: “Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest” (Prov 6:7-8).
You have a Boss: The Lord Jesus Christ. “Let all the house of Israel . . . know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). As Lord, Jesus is the Master, and whatever he says goes. Are you obeying your Boss as he says to take his word into all the world?
Three: Business
“How long will you lie there, O sluggard?” (Prov 6:9). How long will you watch people head to hell?
Be active in your Business. Jesus was active in his. When Mary and Joseph lost him, they found Jesus in the temple. The Lord said, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:49).
What will you do in the Business of saving souls? What talents do you possess to lead people to Jesus? What friends can you lead to Jesus? Will you be like Jesus and be active in the Father’s Business?
Four: Bankruptcy
“Poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Prov 6:11).
Failing to win souls leads to Bankruptcy. You will be bankrupt on the Judgment Day when you see people you love damned to hell because you did nothing. Ezekiel knew he might experience Bankruptcy: Yahweh told him, “If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand” (Ezek 33:8).
Ezekiel would be held accountable if he said nothing. You will be held accountable if you do nothing. How many times have you mentioned Jesus to your friends and family?
Will you stand before God’s throne bankrupt? If you’re in sin, you most certainly will. Do you need to leave that sin this morning as we stand and sing?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.