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Proverbs 20

Good Morning “Willing to Put in the Work.”  Today we are in Proverbs 20.  

One of the first Father Son Campouts our church ever had, during chapel, we were given verses to read out loud with our sons.  My then 4 or 5 year old son Dawson recited “A sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭26‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

With no clue what a sluggard was, nor what the verse meant - we spent part of the weekend discussing it.  That verse and reinforcement of that principle in the years to come - stuck.  To this day, now with a family of his own, he’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever known.

You will not find the phrase “God helps those who help themselves”, in Scripture.  It simply isn’t there.  What is there, is that work existed before the fall, and as such it too was good!  It was not until after the fall that work was cursed with weeds - and we all have them.  It will now require painful toil (Genesis 3:17-19).  Yet we are commanded to work. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work,” Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In all that we do, we do it as though we are doing it for Him!  So… with excellence!  (Colossians 3:23-24).  In that we honor Him and store up a heavenly reward.  The natural earthy consequences will be an earned living and a family provided for.  

“Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing.” Proverbs‬ ‭20‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.” Proverbs‬ ‭20‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

(Proverbs 6:6-8, Proverbs 12:24, Proverbs 19:15, Proverbs 21:25)

Scripture is definitely not silent on this issue.  In fact Paul goes so far as to remind the church in Thessalonica that the one who will not work… shall not eat.  (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

By the way, these principles also apply to the work we put in… or don’t put in to growing our relationship with The Lord.  No work, no harvest.

Love you all!  Dig in!