We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised (Hebrews 6:12, NIV).
Laziness will keep us from inheriting the promises of God. Laziness has various facets; one of which is simply being slothful with the Word. A spiritually lazy person ignores the Word; they do not have time to fill themselves with it.
Laziness is the result of a variety of things. One reason for laziness is our desire for immediate results. The Word of God teaches us about patience; the Word tells us that everything is beautiful in its time. We need to wait on God and His perfect timing. The Bible tells us that waiting on the Lord will renew our strength (Isaiah 40:31). The word wait was translated from a Hebrew word that means to wait, to bind, to twist, to gather, to collect. This definition shows us the need to gather the Word about our situation and to bind ourselves to it. This takes time. If we are simply waiting on God apart from the Word, we are doing nothing but wasting time. To wait in a Spiritual manner is to connect yourself to the Word, and do so consistently.
Laziness can also be the outcome of over-committing yourself to everything else that life has to offer. “I’m so busy!” seems to be the normal response when asked, “How are you?” When did “busy” become our position and depiction in life? Rest is a four-letter word to many people today. If we are claiming that we do not have enough time to read the Word of God there is something desperately wrong. According to God, the Word is our life; therefore, if we do not have the time to read the Word, we do not have time to have a Spiritual life! Making time to read the Word is not an option; it is a necessity, but people who are busy are usually too tired at the end of the day to add one more thing to their list. We first must understand that the Word is not something to add to our list; it must come first. The Word must be our priority; it is our life. We would not put off any other life-giving activity. Do we really understand what God is articulating when He informs us that His Word is our life? If we are too busy for the Word, then we must also believe that we are too busy to avoid sin, too busy to inherit the promises, too busy to walk in victory, and so on!
First Samuel chapter eight, verses ten through twenty-two, refers to laziness with the Word. The people decided they wanted a king. They wanted a king to govern them and fight for them because they were too lazy to do these things for themselves. The people had God as their king, but when He was their king they had responsibility. The people did not want this accountability; they wanted someone else to be in charge for them. They did not want to be in the Word and be responsible for the amount of knowledge they had; they were lazy. They did not want to prepare for the battle; they did not want to fight the battles. They did not even care what the end result of this laziness would be. They would lose what was theirs in the same way we lose what is ours in Christ when we refuse to abide in the Word and prepare for the fight of faith.
No matter what the reason is for the laziness, the outcome is the same. If we identify a problem of laziness with the Word, we can be sure that it needs to be rectified. How many people are suffering because of problems the Word of God can solve? The Bible is our answer! God’s Word was sent to us to heal us in every area we need a healing—don’t be lazy with it!
