I was a pretty bright kid. This meant that academically stuff came pretty easy to me. It was even suggested to my parents that I skip ahead a grade. My mother declined that offer, however. And the downside to being a bright kid and having academics come pretty easily to me is that I never learned how to study… I never had to! I never had homework because I easily completed it all during class time. Then… grade 9 math hit me like a bus. I was reeling, my grades were suffering and I had no concept of studying and applying myself. It was pretty terrible. And honestly, it took until well into college before I finally figured out how to study.
It was laziness. Never needing to try meant that I never did. And that’s where our Proverb comes in today. Laziness is a hard habit to un-learn and hard work will enable you to be everything you can. But I can’t say it any better than the Psalmist:
I went past the field of a sluggard,
Proverbs 24:30-34
past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
thorns had come up everywhere,
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins.
I applied my heart to what I observed
and learned a lesson from what I saw:
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
I don’t think I can say any better than the Scriptures, so I’ll simply leave it there today.