Proverbs 15:19, “The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.”

Like a sidewalk overgrown with thorns and weeds, the lazy man’s life becomes difficult, frustrating, and painful. In fact, he makes life difficult for himself because he neglects to clear the thorns. He makes excuses, finding any and every way to avoid fulfilling his responsibilities. But in the end, he can’t escape his duties.

How many of us do the very same thing? We often make excuses to put off our work. We forget or ignore the importance of our God-given responsibilities. And we forget that although it’s easy to make excuses, we must work diligently for God’s glory.

The book of Proverbs gives examples of at least four lazy excuses that many of us have made.

Excuse #1: “It’s too hard.”

Proverbs 22:13, “The slothful man saith, ‘there is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.’”

Can you imagine calling your boss on Monday morning and giving him this excuse? It would sound pretty ridiculous.

Whether the lazy person has fabricated this excuse or not, he has turned a simple problem into an insurmountable problem. His goal is to justify his laziness and claim that he cannot possibly overcome the difficulty.

Have you ever done this? Maybe you try to justify why certain chores, tasks, or assignments are simply too much for you to handle, even though they are well within your ability to complete. Whatever the reason really is, you make the excuse “it’s too hard” to make it seem like you can’t be expected to do your work.

Excuse #2: “I would rather do something else.”

“I’d rather stay in bed for just a few more minutes” is perhaps the most obvious example of this excuse. But there are many ways that we might put off the things we need to do in favor of something we find more satisfying, enjoyable, or easy.

Proverbs 24:33-34, “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; And thy want as an armed man.”

The lesson that the lazy man inadvertently teaches is simple: it doesn’t matter what resources you have if you waste them. The slothful person would rather take some extra rest than use his resources to provide for himself and his family. This laziness leads only to poverty and failure.

What is your “something else”? It might not be anything bad, but if you use it as an excuse to avoid work, then you have put worthless pursuits before God-given responsibility (c.f., Prov. 28:19).  We must avoid using “something else” as a distraction from our work.

Excuse #3: “I don’t need to.”

Proverbs 26:16, “The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.”

Proverbs 20:4, “The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; Therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.”

The lazy person thinks he’s got it all figured out. His “wisdom” will compensate for his lack of initiative and diligence in the front end, so that everything will work out in the end without any consequences.

We often call this “procrastination,” putting off our duties until the last possible moment. Proverbs doesn’t condemn the action of procrastination directly, but it decries procrastination as a characteristic of a person’s life.

If you believe you can consistently put off your work till the last possible moment, you will be met with failure. You may not fail every time, but eventually your laziness will catch up to you. Like the lazy man who didn’t plant in the springtime, you won’t have what you need at harvest.

Excuse #4: “Let’s talk about something else.”

               Proverbs 14:23, “In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.”

Hard work brings profit; talking about hard work brings poverty. The classic image of this idea is spending too much time around the “water cooler.” The lazy man might talk about his big dreams, the weather, the game last night, or anything. His goal is to avoid work by sparking conversation about anything other than his work.

Do you try to distract yourself from your work by talking about something else? Maybe you try to have profitable conversations, so that it seems like a good use of time. But in the end, your motivation is to neglect hard work.

These excuses are so easy to make. As we seek to live in God’s wisdom, let’s refuse these excuses together. Godly wisdom says that hard work is good and honors the Lord. So let us work hard to fulfill our God-given responsibilities and trust in His grace and strength as we do so, that His name might be glorified.