Proverbs 15:19 The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.
Are You Willing to Work?
When I was a kid, my mom had a list of jobs for me to do every day, especially in the summer. After breakfast, I had 30 minutes of trumpet practice, 30 minutes of book reading, and 15 minutes of weeding the garden. Then, I was to empty the trash, sweep, and so on. I had a pretty exhaustive list of jobs I did every day.
One thing I discovered by growing up is that the hardest jobs to do are the ones I don’t want to do. It is amazing how hard a task becomes when I just decide that I don’t want to do it. The only reason I am hearkening back to my boyhood is because I’d be embarrassed to give you a more recent example, which is probably only 24 hours old.
The truth is, work is a matter of the mind first of all. Proverbs 15:19 says, “The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.” I love the word “slothful.” It sounds slow and cumbersome, sleepy and lazy, and that is exactly what is intended here. A slothful man just can’t ever get going. There just always seems to be a brick wall in his way. He never gets the job done because he never gets the job started.
In contrast, have you ever noticed that when a person has a heart to work it is like there is a highway before him. He just gets the job done. People who have a heart to work get started, get it going, and get it done. A man willing to work will find fewer obstacles. Now God knows and you know that there are people who want to work, but can’t find work. If you are such a person, God will provide for you if you are willing to work and to follow His leading one step at a time. Sometimes, we need to take the first work we can find, and perhaps God will give us a job more to our liking or skill set in the future. But a person willing to work will find fewer obstacles.
The first obstacle to be overcome when getting a task done is the obstacle in our mind; it is our attitude. When I have a heart to work, I have the hands to get it done.