Cold soup and 10 minutes of my life wasted because I didn’t cover my soup. How could my life have been different if I had those 10 minutes to do something productive. I could have read a book to the boys, took a power nap, done some reading. But my choice to be lazy, robbed me of that.
Laziness begins as a thought. You think that you can get the same results by cutting corners. Now this is different from being efficient. Efficiency eliminates steps that are not essential to the task in order to get it done faster. What we’re talking about is cutting out steps that are essential, hoping the end result is still the same.
The New Living Translation says in verse 27 of our passage that “she suffers nothing from laziness.” So it’s very clear that laziness will cause you to suffer. Laziness is almost equivalent to quitting. It shows a lack of diligence and discipline. When it comes to the bigger things in our lives, like our families and businesses, the results of being lazy can be detrimental. If you know your husband likes it when you wear certain things and you chose to put on something that requires less effort and thought, this could put a strain on your marriage. If you choose to not iron your clothes at night and opt to do it in the morning when you know there is no additional time for that, you could be late for work and jeopardize your career (I’m gonna be honest, I iron clothes at night maybe 10% of the time, but I make sure I have enough time in the morning, or at least I try).
There are countless examples of how laziness impacts those around us. And you may say, “I don’t have time, that’s why I cut corners or don’t do some things”. This may very well be true, but it is also avoidable. We are not a slave to time. It shouldn’t boss us around and dictate what we can and can’t do. Earlier I explained the difference between laziness and efficiency. We must become more efficient and be wise enough to know what tasks can be trimmed down because there are non-essential steps involved. We must also plan. Planning how time will work for you is critical in being a wise user of time or being a slave to it.
None of us like to suffer. The passage is very clear that this is the result of laziness. It can be a hard thing to break if you are in the habit of yielding to it, but all things are possible. Examples are given in order for someone to learn from them. Continue this journey with me, learning from the P31, so that we can excel all other women.
Reference: Proverbs 31:27
