Verse of the Day - Proverbs 12:24

Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave.
~ Proverbs 12:24 (NLT)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is a general principle of hard work vs. laziness that is proven out in many scenarios . . . things just don't get done by themselves.

~ A farmer who sits at home during the Spring, thumbing through seed catalogs all day but doesn't actually plant anything, is in for a very empty stomach come Winter, because the only seeds that plant themselves are weeds...

~ A factory worker who spends his work time in the lunchroom yackin' about whatever to his co-workers instead of doing his job is eventually going to get called into the boss' office to explain his lack of productivity on the assembly line.

~ A housewife who plops herself in front of the TV all day to watch soap operas might have to wear her pajamas to the grocery store, as the dirty laundry mounds up like a huge ant hill.

Discipline is mandatory in this life to keep things maintained. Your teeth get gross if you don't brush them. Your car runs out of gas if you don't fill it. Your lawn becomes a jungle if you don't mow it. It's a constant state of maintenance.

Yeah, I know. I get tired, too. But that's part of the fall of man, having to work hard to make things happen. Laziness is also a part of our sin nature, that part of us that just wants to do nothing, to let others carry our load, to mooch. But hard work does a great job of drowning out the laziness, because God can provide a sense of deep satisfaction when you give your all to something, much more fulfilling than whatever temporal pleasure you might feel in sitting back and watching the world go by. I think it's God-given satisfaction to feel good about working hard. It's just the way He's ordered this life. And when we're going with the grain of God's order, there is contentment.

As far as leadership goes, who wants to follow a sluggard? Hang your hat on a lazy person, and you'll both end up sittin' on the curb wondering where your next meal will come from! People will follow those who invest their energies, who get the job done, who make it happen. This builds strong community in whatever venue you're in.

God looks for people who are good stewards of their time, their talent, their resources. He's not a lazy God; therefore, He wants us to follow suit, to be imitators of Him.

May God bless you richly today, as you give your best in whatever you do! And then, watch out -- when you look behind you, you may very well see a trail of followers . . . so lead them to where you kneel, at the feet of Jesus.

Love,
Joelene