Walk Of Life, Day 20- October 2020, Thoughts from the Book of Proverbs.
Proverbs 20:4 “The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore, shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.”
People have become so active in doing these worldly chores and have become lazy in spiritual walk. If we examine ourselves this day, we can get a clear picture of our enthusiasm compared to the initial days when we started our walk of life in Christ. As the days are passing, we have been losing the enthusiasm, love and zeal for the service of the Lord.
A lazy person shows least interest in doing the works. This laziness leads to carelessness. He forgets or overlooks the harm caused by his laziness. Here in this verse we see a sluggard who does not go to the field in order to plow it. He supports his lazy act with a lame excuse, saying it is cold out there. Finally, on the day of harvest, he sees his friends reaping their crop, but he finds his hands empty. Though he tries to beg from his friends at that time, no one agrees to give away all their harvest to a sluggard. So, the sluggard is left with nothing.
There is a person who gave lame excuses and repented later. However, he could not change anything. Charles Carroll Luther wrote a hymn “Must I go an Empty Handed” in the year 1877, after he had heard the story of a young man who got to live as a child of God only for a month. This young man lived according to his will all the days of his life until the day he was on the hospital bed counting his days. He never cared to listen to the gospel messages. He postponed salvation many a times. However, while he was in the hospital, he was diagnosed with a rare disease, a pastor came to visit him. The pastor shared the gospel for which the young man responded positively. He opened his heart for the Lord Jesus to enter in. Though the young man accepted the Lord Jesus as his personal savior, his countenance was still sad. The pastor was curious to know the reason for the young man’s sadness. The pastor said,” Dear young man, you lived a life which displeased God all these days of your life. You are blessed that God has given you an opportunity today to know and accept Him. Do not worry, God will not remember your past mistakes, He has forgiven you and you are sure to go to heaven.” For which the young man replied, “Uncle, I know that my God is gracious and merciful. He has forgiven me and will never remember my past. The thing that is bothering me is that I have done nothing for the Lord while I had time. Now, I do not have much time but I have the desire to do something for the Lord. However, I can do nothing now. This means that I will go to meet my Lord empty handed.”
Dear friend in Christ, are you neglecting the work of the Lord? Is every worldly business seeming more important to you than the work of the Lord? Are you giving lame excuses for Lord’s ministry?
In the new testament, parable of talents,the ruler grants each servant few talents. The one who multiplies them is rewarded, but the one who hides it and gives a lame excuse is punished.
No, do not neglect, do not give excuses. Whatever work the Lord has given you, accept it and do it willingly on time. The day will come when God will ask us an account of our work, it will be a great embarrassment to stand empty handed before the one who has given you everything.
