Remember, as long as we still have breath there is always something we can be doing for the Lord.
I admire the older generations' work ethic. They were all about a hard day’s work and no task was beneath them. Back in the day, blue collar workers were the backbone of this country. These jobs were not looked down upon as less than, but vital to the infrastructure. My husband told me a story about a co-worker whose dad was part of a road crew for his entire working life. These men were on their feet all day, working in extreme weather conditions, and happy to be employed. Yet he said now it is close to impossible to find young guys who are willing to do this hard labor. Even if they are successful at hiring someone, they don’t last very long.
My dad was a factory worker his entire life. The conditions he worked in were especially difficult in the summer when temperatures would soar inside the factory. Around Christmas time, he would take on a second part-time job working in the evenings at a local market so that he could provide us kids with Christmas presents. As children on Christmas morning, it was a glorious thing for my brothers and me to see gifts overflowing from beneath the tree. I didn’t know then that my dad worked extra hard so we could have a nice Christmas.
I don’t believe my dad was any different than anyone else back then. Hard work was built into that generation's DNA. So what’s happening now? Why is it so hard to get people to work? Why are people not working for anything less than an hourly rate they deem worthy of working? I think in large part it’s due to the younger generation seeing their peers in big houses with fancy cars all thanks to social media accounts that took off. Now, in no way am I implying that influencers don’t work hard because I know there are a lot of behind-the-scenes aspects to that whole industry that indeed require hard work. I’m more speaking to the perception that this is easy work and you don’t really have to do anything.
There just doesn’t seem to be a drive anymore to aspire for a career that takes hard work to achieve. There are definitely exceptions to this. I know a young high school woman who wants to be a pediatric thoracic surgeon one day. She knows it will take a lot of hard work studying, taking tests, and years of schooling, but she has her eye on the prize with a passion for doing this type of work.
The definition of lazy is “unwilling to work or use energy.” The key word here is “unwilling,” which I believe my examples above showcased.
Laziness is spoken about numerous times in Proverbs. Proverbs 13:4 says, “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.”
We mustn’t fall into the trap of desiring fame, fortune, and ease because in the end, it gets us nothing, but rather we should be diligent in working to bring glory to God in all that we do for it is then that we will be richly supplied.
Did you know that before you were born God prepared specific works for you to do during your tenure on earth? “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
God’s Word actually gives us a warning not to become lazy in the area of completing the works God prepared for us to do. “I know your deeds, that you have a name, that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you” (Revelation 3:1b-3).
Let’s look at three ways to “wake up and strengthen the things that remain” to avoid becoming lazy in completing the works God has prepared for us to do:
1. Not Giving into Spiritual Laziness
The work God has prepared for us to do isn’t primarily a list of tasks to tick off, but more a lifestyle that walks in those works. Let me explain: The Word of God gives us example after example of how we are to walk like Christ. Jesus Himself sets the example for our life and conduct. With that as our foundation, He has gifted us in specific ways within that framework to be used for His Glory in order to complete the works He prepared for us to do. Through our prayers and time in the Word, God will direct us in the specific task He has set aside for us to complete.
If we become spiritually lazy in our prayer life or with time in the Word, we will miss out on direction and wisdom to move forward with accomplishing the work that God wants us to complete. To me, the pillars of the spiritual disciplines are reading the Word and spending time in prayer each day. Working hard in both of these areas is what will “wake us up to what God has prepared for us to do and strengthen us to persevere in the works that remain for us to complete.”
Let’s not give into spiritual laziness, but “remember what we have received and heard, keep it and repent.”
2. Underestimating What God Can Do Through You
Sometimes our laziness in ministry is actually born out of fear. We feel that the Lord is leading us to complete a specific work in His name, but we lack the confidence to carry it out, making us “unwilling” to move forward.
I am an introvert by nature. As a pastor’s wife, this can be challenging because I literally have to pick myself up by the bootstraps and be intentional in my interactions with the congregation. After Sunday morning service, I can feel drained. This is not because anyone said or did something that drained me but how much energy it takes out of me to go outside my comfort zone. Yet when I reflect on the morning, I think to myself, “Who was that?!” “She was so comfortable and genuine in her conversations.” And that’s when I acknowledge and praise God for His strength and ability to carry out the work He prepared for me to do that particular morning as a pastor’s wife.
If God calls you to it, He will do it through you. The next time you feel laziness overtaking you in an area you know God is calling you to because you feel inadequate, call upon the Lord and ask Him for His strength to walk in the works He prepared for you to do.
3. Avoiding Complacency in Your Spiritual Walk
Complacency in our spiritual walk is the most dangerous. The word complacency means “self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.” If we look back at our passage from Revelation, we see that the danger of becoming complacent in our spiritual walk is that Jesus will come back like a thief and you will not know the hour of His coming.
We must live our lives as though Jesus is returning at any moment. "Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (Matthew 24:42-44).
Complacency is a lazy mindset that you are all set, that there's nothing else to be done. But the reality is, if the Lord hasn’t called you home yet or He hasn’t returned for you, you still have work to complete: "being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).
When you avoid complacency in your spiritual walk you can be confident that you will carry out and complete all the works God has prepared for you to do.
Remember, as long as we still have breath there is always something we can be doing for the Lord. Don’t allow laziness to creep in. Our works will not be completed until we are at home with the Lord in heaven. Until that day, keep your eyes on the prize and work hard to bring God glory in everything you do and say.
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