THINK TOGETHER.
Do you like to work hard? Why or why not?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 21:25-26. 25The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. 26All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.
God made us with a desire to eat. That's pretty obvious isn't it? But did you know that our desire to eat is supposed to also give us a desire to work hard? The same is true with everything good that we desire. God gives us desires and he gives us work, both are good, and when we put them together good things happen. When we work hard for good things, things that please God, things that are a gift from God (like food, or learning, or skills), then life is good. We feel good. We worked hard for something and contributed and we got what we desired – Yay!
The sluggard is someone who has desires (like a desire to eat) but they don't want to do any work. The problem is that they don't desire the good gifts from God enough to work hard for them. They would love to know new things, but not read the book. They would love to win the tournament, but not practice. They want to have money to buy things that they want, but won't do the job to earn the money.
Notice in verse 26 how the righteous person is different. They not only work hard to get what they desire, but they also give to others and don't hold back. The righteous person shares what they have. What's tricky is helping those in need without doing everything for them. It's better to teach the sluggard how to do something for themselves. That's helping them.
That is exactly what Jesus does with us. Yes, Jesus did everything for us on the cross, but now that he has given us everything we need he invites us to work hard at applying all that he has done. For example, Jesus loves us completely, but he also wants us to practice loving others. Jesus trusted God perfectly for us, but he wants us to work hard at trusting God. He doesn't want us to be spiritual sluggards.
Because of Jesus everything God requires is done for us.
With Jesus we can work hard at doing everything God requires.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Are you a sluggard? In what part of your life do you hate working hard? What is one thing you can do to work harder in this area and enjoy it as God's gift?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, I don't want to be a sluggard. Help me to work hard to enjoy all you have given me. Amen.
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