Power Lines - The Bandit of Laziness

“Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.”

"There are many people who are ineffective and unfruitful, not because they are not anointed, gifted, or equipped but simply because they are lazy."

"Laziness is a bandit that robs us of our potential, and it is an enemy of God’s best for our lives."

"A person can be very busy and still be lazy if he is avoiding some critical action that needs to be taken."

There is a difference  between "effective action and mere busyness". "Critical action is the kind of activity that produces real results, cuts through all the fluff, and gets right down to what is vital."

Laziness is "choosing to evade or compromise critical action."

 

The snippets above are from a Bible Study, Five Enemies of God's Will, by Daniel Kolenda. Read the complete piece after the cut. It's very insightful.

The Bandit of Laziness

Enemy #1 - Part 1 Introduction

This Bible study has been taken from chapter 11 of LIVE BEFORE YOU DIE

It’s one thing to know God’s will. It’s something else to do it. Discovering God’s will makes very little difference unless we are willing to move forward in obedience. Someone said, “Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” Many people seeking God’s will have been “overrun” by those actually doing it. Doing the will of God requires taking action. I’m talking about something very down-to-earth right now. Not just inspiration but perspiration. Not just divine revelation but also human effort. There are many people who are ineffective and unfruitful, not because they are not anointed, gifted, or equipped but simply because they are lazy. The writer of Proverbs 24 says he went past the field of a lazy man. He saw how thorns and weeds had covered the ground and swallowed the walls, which were in ruins. "I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man." (Proverbs 24:32-34) NIV. This lazy man’s field was in shambles. It looked as though bandits had stolen his crop and ruined his livelihood. But his real enemy was not thieves or robbers; it was his own lack of effort. Laziness is a bandit that robs us of our potential, and it is an enemy of God’s best for our lives. Yet here’s the problem—nobody thinks he is lazy. If I randomly approached people on the street and asked; “Are you a lazy person?”  I’d guess nine out of ten would say, “No!” Most people think they are hard-working. In fact, people constantly tell me how busy they are and how little time they have. Yet a person can be very busy and still be lazy if he is avoiding some critical action that needs to be taken. I use the term critical action because not all activity is created equal. In the last chapter we talked about the importance of taking action, but now I want to make a distinction between effective action and mere busyness. Critical action is the kind of activity that produces real results, cuts through all the fluff, and gets right down to what is vital. Let me define laziness then as choosing to evade or compromise critical action.