Laziness and Discipline by Brother Curtis Hansen

         This morning our scripture is going to be coming from the book of Proverbs. Turn to chapter 26, and we will start reading at verse 13 to 16. The proverbs are a collection of wise sayings and thoughts from kings. The primary author of these was King Solomon. 

        13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.

        14 As the door turns upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.

        15 The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth,

        16 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.

        This morning's message is going to be about laziness and discipline. If you look at the entire story of the apostle Paul, before his conversion and name change, there is a substantial amount of growth. On his first missionary journey, he was harsh and mean to others as he promoted the gospel and began churches. By the end of his life, with a little age and incarceration, he was lightened a little with the harsh corners of his life. He was building others up in his letters and invoking more peace to others in the end. God is going to be in our hearts wherever we are. 

        Laziness is a lack of discipline. There is no lack of drive. There are people who are slow learners in the world who are not lazy. To repeat, there is no lack of drive with lazy people. There is a drive to do nothing in life. There was a study published that said roughly 1% of people today could go and do something they applied themselves to right away. There's no training nor practice, they get it right off the bat. Most people though, anything you strive to accomplish or get really good at will take time. It takes an estimated 10,000 hours to get great at something. To be great at your job takes a work discipline. You can be lazy and still be busy.

        Examining the scriptures this morning, verse 13 is a person who makes excuses and reasons as to why they don't do things. Verse 14 is very much like many people, a door hinge. We are busy going back and forth but we never get anywhere. Our life is one large circle that feeds on itself. It's funny that in business, whatever field you work, there is in the distance the idea of retirement. That idea of retirement is working to a place of rest of just be lazy in your old age. If you go back to the book of Genesis, you see that work was on earth for Adam before sin entered in the garden.

        There are three points I want to explore with laziness. 1) The cause of laziness. 2) The cost of laziness. 3) The cure for laziness. In going back to the scriptures you see in verse 13 busy but excuse filled. In verse 14 Busy yet no movement, like a door hinge. In verse 15 it's the habit of starting things and then never finishing them. In verse 16 is  like the person who is always the coach and never the player. Those people who know everything but don't do anything. That lazy spirit gets you trapped in a circular motion, like a roundabout. You cannot accomplish anything. If you know where you are, if you are entertaining that lazy spirit, don't fall under the spell of doing it. The more you allow that lazy spirit to compromise your discipline, it causes you to fall into a complacency in your walk, which in turn leads to lethargy, then atrophy, and ending with you being out of church and off the path completely.

        Let us first look at the cause of laziness. The root of laziness is in to be comforted. There are those who continually seek the path of least resistance. If something is too hard for us, we stop it or we make an excuse to stop it. The lie we tell ourself is if it's not easy, it was not meant for me. When that comfort is taken away, when you are placed in an unfamiliar spot, you either grow, or you shrink and retreat. Too many christians believe that God is calling out Paul's all over in the end time, when God really wants is calling just you and only you.

        Our second point to discuss is the cost of laziness. Laziness costs you prosperity, it costs you progress. You are always half hearted in whatever you seek out to do. Laziness costs you people's trust. There are different points in life where you need to see if your close circle has some dead weight holding you back, or leading you down toward some old familiar and unhealthy habits. If there are people who are leading you astray, or find ways to keep your relationship stagnant with God, you need to cut those people out of your life. Laziness costs you your purposes. The purpose of what you were destined for in life. If we resign ourself to just being comfortable in our life, we lose out on what our purpose is. 

        We have talked about the cause and cost of laziness, and now let's speak about the cure. To repeat a statement from earlier, you will only grow when you are uncomfortable. Work is hard not because of sin but work itself is not a sin. As Jesus said toward the end before the cross "Not my will but yours" to the Lord. We should also adopt the same attitude. If you dislike work, getting out of your comfort zone, you aren't going to like heaven. Heaven has things there our flesh hates.

        Difficult but necessary. This is a sign in your walk. Professional growth in work requires professional discipline. The spiritual life is identical as spiritual growth requires spiritual discipline. You need to put in those 10,000 hours in prayer, in reading and studying the word, in fasting. You should seek out a community of like minded believers such as the church. The straw man argument made against church is they're all hypocrites! I can't be around them. And?!? You're around them in the market, at the bank, eating out. Some of them you're quite friendly to at times. Knock it off.

        You will not overcome laziness without discipline. Begin with a goal that's obtainable required for any transformation. The state of uncomfortable moves your flesh. Get discipline and practice it in your life. There are areas we need to discipline ourself in as God requires us to do.