Date: Friday, 12th July, 2024
Text: John 5:1-17
Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan
Exhortation:
Another word for indolence is idleness, laziness or slothfulness. It is a word that describes someone who avoids work and loves inactivity or ease. An indolent person is also described as a slacker or a sluggard.
We are wired to be active. You will notice that any part of the body that is often put to use looks bigger and stronger while the less active parts looks smaller and weaker. Simply put, indolence reduces and weakens a man.
In today’s text Jesus was criticized for working on a day declared for rest- a Sabbath day. He was accused of violating the law by healing a man that had been sick and bedridden for 38 years, on a Sabbath. The religious leaders began to persecute him for this reason. In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” John 5:17 (NIV)
The agenda of God for mankind and for individuals cannot be carried out when the spirit of indolence is at work. One common thing about indolent persons is that they complain a lot and look for every excuse to avoid work. They always procrastinate, saying, “I will do it later, I will do it later.”Their tables are always filled with backlogs of files they have refused to attend to.
An indolent person would refuse to go to work and when you ask him, he could complain that “There’s danger out there, I could be kidnapped on my way to work!” Proverbs 22:13 says, “The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!”However, he has bills to pay.
The spirit of indolence makes a man unproductive, robs him of fulfilling his potentials and reduces him to a beggar who always depends on those who are productive. An indolent person will not always be able to meet up with his responsibilities and becomes a burden and disappointment to himself, his family, employer, business associates and so on.
Make up your mind to be a hard and smart worker.
Action Nugget: Break yourself free from the spirit of indolence today!