I have been to some local churches and have met some elders who, if I suggest some meetings on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings, would frown at the idea and say, "I am afraid that the brothers and sisters may not be able to take it." Let me tell you that it is not the brothers and sisters but the elders who cannot take it. They may say, "Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday seem too much. Perhaps we can keep the Tuesday and Thursday only." I may then ask, "What then should we do in these meetings? Should we pray, study the Word, or fellowship?" The lazy ones always have their way. They may say, "An hour and a half is too long. One hour is good enough, with half an hour for prayer and half an hour for studying the Bible. In this way, we have the study of the Word, and we have prayer, and we get two things done at the same time. This will also save the brothers' and sisters' time in traveling." This word sounds good, but every time I hear such a word, I shake my head and say to myself, "This church is in trouble, because the elders are lazy."

I have also met some diligent people. For example, you may go to a local church and say to the elders there, "It would be best if we can have two meetings each week, on Tuesday and Thursday." They may answer, "Brother, how about Saturday?" You can see that their eyebrows are raised. If you say, "I am afraid it may be too much," they will say, "Brother, not at all. We can meet every evening." From this, you can see that with the same question, diligent ones and lazy ones respond with different tones and different suggestions. A lazy man has a lazy view, whereas a diligent man has a diligent view.

Moreover, if you put something into the hands of a lazy man, he will surely make an important matter look small, and a small matter to be nothing. If the same matter is placed in the hand of a diligent man, he will make something out of nothing, and will make a small thing into something big. The more he lays his hands on things, the more things there will be. If you do not believe me, simply try the matter out. Sometimes a brother or sister would come to advise me, "Brother Lee, try to make the Scripture a little simpler." I would answer in return, "Do you want me to be a lazy man? I can be very simple and finish the book of Numbers in fifteen minutes. The first chapter deals with the forming of an army, and the last chapter deals with the ordinances concerning the inheritance of the women to the east of the River Jordan. Hence, the book of Numbers is simply the forming of the army and the apportioning of the inheritance!"

Please remember that with anything in this entire world everything can be simplified to the degree that it can be finished in an hour. At the same time, it can also be extended to the point that it can go on for a whole lifetime. The range is very great. It all depends upon whether you are diligent or lazy. When a diligent person solves the problem of a brother, he solves it diligently, and not in a simple way. But when a lazy man tries to solve the same problem, he does it in a lazy way; to him, everything is easy and can be done quickly.

I can tell you that I am a person who writes letters often and receives much mail from brothers and sisters. Sometimes, after looking at a brother's letter, I cannot help but laugh. To me, it would have been better for this brother to send a telegram rather than write a letter. If you ask him why he writes so little, he would say that he does not have anything to say, and that what he has written is good enough. This is laziness. Anyone who is not lazy can find much to write about.