Let us return to the passage in Matthew 25:18-30. What does it say in that passage? In the parable we see two possible charges facing us at the judgment seat—the charge of "evil" and the charge of "slothful." The slave was evil because he harbored ill thoughts about the Lord. Perhaps not many people are this evil. But nine out of ten may have to admit that they are slothful slaves when they stand before the Lord. At that time the Lord Himself will pronounce the judgment: "Cast out the useless slave into the outer darkness" (v. 30). The Lord considers a slothful servant a "useless" one. Sometimes we ask why God uses a certain brother. He uses him because he gives himself to what he is doing day and night. The way is with the diligent ones; no lazy ones can take this way. We have to sacrifice our all before we can take this way. Brothers and sisters, if we do not deal with the problem of slothfulness, we cannot have any work at all. Once we become lazy, our worth is cut in half. If we allow ourselves to go on this way, we may end up with only a tenth of our worth. There are already too few people who know the Lord today. If we drag our feet and are slow in our endeavor, how can our work accomplish anything? Do not regard this matter lightly. Do not think that diligence is a small thing. Many people in the past have become useless and have fallen by the wayside, wasting themselves through their slothfulness. Let us take this solemn warning. From this very day let us look to the Lord to enable us to reverse our habit and character altogether. May the Lord remove slothfulness from us. We cannot be lazy and idle. If we are, our work will not have a future.
We should discipline our body in such a strict way that it will be fully obedient to us. We should be diligent, not slothful. The most common malady in our work is slothfulness. Perhaps nine out of ten persons are slothful. A servant of the Lord should have the stamina to always push himself forward. The Bible uses the ox instead of the horse as a symbol of our service. An ox plods on with the same work today, tomorrow, and the next day; it never gives up. If we work one day when we are up and rest the next day when we are down, or work when the weather is fair and rest when the weather is foul, we will never see any result to our work. But if we move on step by step, day by day, unrelentingly and steadily, we will see results sooner or later. May God deliver us from our flippant and foolish ways so that we can be like the ox, holding, gripping, steadying, and unrelentingly and diligently working all the time. If we do this, we will have a way to go on.
The book of Proverbs speaks of slothfulness more than any other book in the Old Testament. It gives a clear picture of what slothfulness is. The Hebrew word atsel is translated fourteen times, either as slothful or as sluggard (6:6, 9; 10:26; 13:4; 15:19; 19:24; 20:4; 21:25; 22:13; 24:30; 26:13-16). It is translated once as slothfulness (19:15). The Hebrew word remiyah is also translated as slothful twice (12:24, 27). Solomon made it clear what slothfulness is.
Since slothfulness is a habit that has been built up over the years, we cannot hope to correct it in a day or two. If we do not deal with it in a serious way, it may stay with us for the rest of our life. Do not think that hearing one message will solve the problem. It is not that simple. This habit has taken years to build up, and it has become part of our character. Unless we deal with it sternly before the Lord, we cannot rid ourselves of it. We expect those who are accustomed to laziness to be all the more conscientious in dealing with their slothfulness. Unless they deal with this matter soberly, they cannot participate in the Lord's work. God's work cannot tolerate lazy ones. No slothful person can produce a proper work, because the disposition of a lazy man always tries to ignore or put off things. When things come his way, he wishes that they would disappear altogether. Those with a lazy habit are hopeless as far as God's work is concerned. Every servant of the Lord must be a busy person. He should always look for something to occupy himself with. He should put himself under every burden and delve into every problem; he should not avoid problems. Every servant of God should take all kinds of responsibilities upon himself; he should not be afraid of troubles. Brothers and sisters, we have to deal with our evil habit of avoiding work, trouble, and assignments. We must deal with this in a stern way. A man who is lazy can never serve God.