Jump Start # 1141

Proverbs 19:24 “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish, but will not even bring it back to his mouth.”

Our verse today illustrates the pitiful condition of the lazy. Here is a  guy who has stuck his hand in a bowl of food, but is too lazy to bring it up to his mouth to eat. This is extreme. I can’t imagine this literally happening. It is used to illustrate the wasted opportunity of the lazy. Some are given job opportunities, but they are too slow and too lazy to pursue those and eventually the jobs are filled by others. His hand was in the bowl but he couldn’t bring it to his mouth. Some are given great opportunities to earn an education. School is paid for by their parents or a scholarship. However, they are too lazy to get to classes and they flunk out. The hand was in the bowl but they couldn’t bring it to their mouths. Some folks want the paycheck, but they don’t want the work. Some want the degree but they don’t want the classes and tests. The lazy bone has stuck many folks.

That same lazy bone can strike us spiritually as well. Some folks are part of wonderful congregations that have all kinds of classes and opportunities, but some members do not show up. They don’t go to the classes, they miss the special meetings, and their spiritual life suffers. They do not grow as they ought to. Because of that, they continue to make poor choices, not considering consequences and much of the energy and attention must be focused upon those who have their hand stuck in a bowl of spiritual opportunity but they won’t bring it to their mouths. This leads to some remaining spiritually weak. This cripples a congregation. Too many lessons and too many classes must be focused upon those who ought to be making better decisions by now. They ought to be growing. They ought to be producing. Instead, their hand is stuck in the bowl and they won’t bring it up to their mouths. Every Sunday, there are some who are not sure or not if they will worship with the church. Even though they claim to be members and followers of Christ, they have never made the true commitment. It’s a toss up, sleep in, go to church. Too often, the sleeping in wins. Later on, down the road, a crisis happens. It always happens. The marriage starts spinning apart. A child becomes a prodigal. Wrong choices. Listening to bad advice. Lack of spiritual foundation. Their lives fall apart. The journey to the cemetery is a moment of despair and hopelessness. They don’t know what they believe. They have never used their faith. Now, it’s too late.

From my perspective all of this is hard to understand. You had the opportunity. You had the best offered to you. Right before you was a bowl of all the things you needed. Your hand was buried in the bowl but you couldn’t bring it up to your mouth. So many people, world wide, would love to have the opportunities that some don’t take advantage of. What a blessing to be a part of a congregation that offers multiple choices of classes, that has the latest and best information available on every media technology available. Classes for kids with the best stuff and great teachers. It’s all there. Information in print, CD’s, online, email. All there. Yet some have their hand buried in the bowl and won’t bring it up to their mouths. Tons of money, time and effort go into making everything the best it can, yet in every congregation there are some who simply can’t bring their hand up to their mouths.

Literally, from our passage, the lazy man would starve to death with a bowl of food right in front of him. His laziness, his indifference, his apathy, conquerors his need to stay alive.  I don’t get this. This is hard for me to grasp. Get your hand out of the bowl and eat, dude. It’s that simple. Do it. Get out of bed and get a job. Do it. Get out of bed and get to classes. Do it. Get up and get to church and be on time. Do it. That’s all he has to do, it’s simply, do it. Some will complain, “I’m too tired.” Yeah, you are. You stayed up too late watching TV, talking to friends, or simply being lazy. “It’s too hard.” Yeah, work can be. But do it anyway. Get to Bible classes. Bring your Bible and pen. Think. Ask. Seek. Get your hand out of the bowl and bring it to your mouth. It is astonishing to see some people die spiritually in a congregation where the bowls of food are everywhere. They simply won’t take their hands out of the bowl and feed themselves.

Type A folks, and that’s me, with a capital A, run short of patience on those who can improve but won’t. They’d rather stay weak, miserable, unemployed, uneducated and complain than do something about it. They have to step over opportunity. It’s all around them, especially spiritually. Their lives could be so much better with Jesus. Strong faith, real hope and a real destination make all the difference in the world. But you have to get your hand out of the bowl and bring it up to your mouth. Remember the words of Jesus? I am the bread of life. That bread doesn’t help us in a bowl. We must bring it to our mouths. Some like to hang around the surface, sticking only a big toe in the water of faith. They think they have it but they don’t. Jump in.  Bring the hand up to your mouth.

We own our souls. We need to take charge of our souls. We are responsible for our souls. A congregation can only do so much. It can put bowls and bowls of amazing spiritual food before us, but sooner or later we have to bring our hands up to our mouths and feed on that spiritual food. What is even more pitiful is to hear the whining of some parents who blame the congregation because their kids became spiritual rebels. Much too often the kids, taking a lesson from the parents, never brought their hands out of the bowl to feed themselves. Poor choices in friends, not understanding temptation, these young people starved to death when congregations taught lessons and had classes about young people, choices, influences, friends, temptation. The food was there. The bowls were full. They starved, not because of a lack of food, but because they never took their hands out of the bowl and brought them to their mouths.

What’s the solution? Keep preaching. Keep showing. Keep filling the bowls. Keep encouraging them to lift their hands to their mouths. Offer classes in the home. Invite folks and mingle strong ones with those who have the lazy bone. Praise the good that is being done. Pray. Don’t ever give up.

How about you? Got your hand in the bowl but just can’t bring it up to your mouth? Isn’t it about time?

Roger