THINK TOGETHER.
Do you have any unfinished projects?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 19:24. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.
Do you remember what a sluggard is? That's right, a sluggard is someone who is very lazy.
How can you know if you are a sluggard or not? Well, one way is to see if you are able to finish things that you started. Does this describe you? Do you have a hard time sticking with a project or a chore? Do you quit things easily? Maybe you started on the team but then decided it was too much hard work so you quit the team. Or maybe you started to clean up your room but after ten minutes you were just lying on the bed day dreaming.
Solomon describes the sluggard in a funny way - The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth. He is describing a person who is so lazy that she will grab her food but not lift it to her own mouth. Hopefully you haven't become so lazy that you won't even feed yourself.
Jesus, of course, is the ultimate example of someone who finished what he started. At the cross Jesus cried out, "It is finished" just before he died and paid for our sins. Can you imagine if Jesus was lazy, a sluggard, and decided to quit in the middle? We would all be doomed.
And because Jesus died for our sins and fills our hearts with his love, that love can help us be motivated to finish what we begin. When we complete a job or a task it is not only because it makes us look good, or because Jesus did it so we should do it too. No, we finish what we start because that is the loving thing to do. Jesus finished paying for our sins because he loved us so much. Laziness isn't love. Sluggardliness (is that a word?) is selfish. And with Jesus' love in our hearts, we never have to be selfish again. So let's get back to work and finish that project.
Because of Jesus our salvation is finished.
With Jesus we can work hard and finish things because of love.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Make a plan to complete an unfinished project together this week. Talk about how Jesus always finished what he started.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, your love motivated you to finish. Help your love to motivate me too. Amen.
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