Welcome. Today we are going to continue our seven deadly sins series, and we’re up to the sin of sloth. What is sloth? It is idleness, the avoidance of physical or spiritual work. A person that is slothful is usually called ‘good for nothing’ in the Southern part of the country where I am from.

The sin of slothfulness is, in my part of the world, more noted when it is a man committing it. I think this to be a bit off, since we are all, man and woman, commanded to do good works for the Lord.

According to the Seven Sins website, the punishment for sloth is being thrown in snake pits in Hell, and the sign for sloth is Saturn, and sloth is associated with the goat, and the color light blue.

Let’s dive into the Bible and see what the Word has to say about slothfulness.

First we see it is forbidden:

(Rom 12:11)  Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord. Everything you do should be for the Lord, and always with a fervent spirit. This should also motivate you physically. If you are mentally ready to throw down and get some work done, then your mental state should render your body ready as well. I’ve never heard of someone being mentally hyped and not at least be physically ready to do things.

(Heb 6:12)  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Again we are told not to be slothful, or lazy, but to move forward like those that inherit the promises. You better believe those that inherit the promises aren’t sitting around on their cans! They’re following the commands of God which include good works for the Lord.

Secondly it produces apathy:

(Pro 12:27)  The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious. The slothful man did not do any hunting, that’s why he doesn’t roast anything! The diligent man is ready though, and has worked hard in preparation and has, for example, food in the winter when food is precious.

(Pro 26:15)  The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. The sluggard isn’t used to work and he doesn’t want to bring his hands away from himself and earn himself a living. He would rather lie around in bed, or pretend himself to be lame than to actually work. It grieves him, the Bible says, to have to take his hand from his body, and work to feed his mouth.

In both instances, we see that the sluggard does not care about what needs to be done. He does not prepare for the future, as the diligent man does, nor does he care about anything besides keeping himself literally or figuratively warm by keeping his hands to himself, and away from any labor.

We also see that slothfulness is akin to extravagance:

(Pro 18:9)  He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. Even though the slothful man has nothing and the extravagant has much, they both end at the same path, having nothing. And this is no position to be in, for it shows lack of foresight.

Sloth is also accompanied by deceit:

(Pro 26:16)  The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. You see, the sluggard can justify everything he does, or does not do to the point where seven men, working together, could not even come up with a valid excuse.

Sloth leads to poverty:

(Pro 10:4)  He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. (Pro 20:13)  Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

This is just common sense. If you don’t open your eyes and get to work then you are not ever going to eat, let alone become rich. No job means no money, and no money means you’re poor, easy enough to understand.

(Pro 14:23)  In all labor there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury. Penury means extreme poverty.

Sloth leads to want:

(Pro 20:4)  The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. So you see the slothful don’t want to go out and work because it’s too cold or too hot or whatever, and when harvest comes, they are flat busted, and have nothing. Then they end up having to be beggars, which is reproachful since they were able to prevent themselves from being in that position if they would have just gotten over their laziness in the beginning.

(Pro 24:34)  So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth; and thy want as an armed man. So when they are without because of their laziness, want will fall on them with the urgency and intensity of facing an armed man. Not eating for a while can make life as intense as staring down the barrel of a gun.

Sloth causes hunger:

(Pro 19:15)  Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. A deep sleep means that a person does not pay attention in their business, ‘sleeping’ in their job, which again means to ignore those things which are important. The suffering of hunger here is pretty self explanatory.

Sloth causes bondage:

(Pro 12:24)  The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. The slothful do not prepare or pay attention to the world or future, so they slide into pauperism and servitude. But the diligent are ready for whatever may come, and therefore keep themselves out of sticky situations, where they might come ‘under tribute’.

Sloth causes disappointment:

(Pro 13:4)  The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. The sluggard wants this and that, but he is not willing to work for it, and therefore is not able to get those things, leaving him very disappointed. The diligent man though, he works and saves and has all that he wants because he is taking care of business.

(Pro 21:25)  The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labor. The sluggard desires, but he’s too lazy to do anything about it, so he ends up wasting his life yearning for things he’s too lazy to earn. Let’s remember this can apply to the desire to do good or great things. If your slothfulness or laziness keeps you from doing a great deed, then it is sin.

Sloth causes ruin:

(Pro 24:30)  I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; (Pro 24:31)  And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.

Here we see that the sluggard’s properties are completely overrun with weeds and the walls were falling apart. This is not exactly the best conditions for getting a crop out before the winter. In this situation laziness has taken that which is good and torn it down to where a massive amount of work would be needed to make it usable again.

(Ecc 10:18)  By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.

Sloth causes meddling and rumor mongering:

(1Ti 5:13)  And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. So we see that by being slothful, we can also become spreaders of rumors, because the slothful have little else to do than to be busybodies.

The Bible tells the slothful to:

(Pro 6:6)  Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. This is a pretty obvious command, and a wise one as well. The ant, as we all likely know, works day in and day out. They also are able to carry great weights and produce amazing results for creatures their size. The ant is a hard working creature, and a good example to man, whether it be spiritual, physical, or intellectual labor.

(Pro 6:9)  How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? The hard working do not just sleep all the time, but the lazy quite often are found in bed.

The slothful make excuses:

(Pro 22:13)  The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. The lazy will come up with outlandish excuses just to get out of work, to the point of saying they are afraid of being killed in the streets if that’s what it takes.

The slothful will oftentimes put more work into making an excuse than what would be required if they would just get off their cans and get on the job.

The Bible illustrates sloth in these ways:

(Pro 26:14)  As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. The point of this example is that the door turns like a sluggard tosses on his bed, but neither leave their positions. The door remains in the hinges and the lazy remain in the bed.

(Mat 25:18)  But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. Instead of going to work and turning his master’s money into a profit like the other servants, this man hides the money and is lazy in regards to it.

(Mat 25:26)  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strewed. The servant did not use the money to produce more money, but was instead slothful and lazy.

Here are some examples of slothful men in the Bible:

(Isa 56:10)  His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. (2Th 3:11)  For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

Slothfulness is an easy sin to fall into as well. Laziness is appealing since hard work has never been considered very fun. But you should do work, no matter what your profession is.

Do not be slothful when it comes to working for the Lord either. We are all to give to the Lord through our talents and good works. (Jas 2:20)  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Be sure that your faith is not dead. There is always some work that needs to be done for the Lord. The entire world is not yet saved, that’s a good place to start if you cannot come up with a task yourself. Work to save as many as you can, that’s probably the best work you can do for the Lord, soulwinning.

Until the next time I take up this particular job for the Lord, God bless.

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