"SLOTH"

Welcome back and today we look at the subject of 'SLOTH', or in simple English, 'Laziness'. I am sure each of us have had times in our lives when we were 'lazy', and no doubt with good reason. If you put in many hours at work or just had a difficult time in life that took a lot of your energy, you may have become a 'couch potato' for a short period of time. This is not what we are talking about in our time together today. Our thoughts today have to do with those who have the physical ability to do work but simply decline to get busy or involved. They would rather live off of the efforts of others than to do an honest day's work and sweat to earn their keep and their next meal.

Lazy in the dictionary has at least the following meaning, "averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion; indolent."

In the religious realms, sloth (Latin: acedia, accidia, pigritia) is one of the seven capital sins, often called the seven deadly sins; these sins are called the capital sins because they destroy charity in the man or woman's heart and therefore may lead to eternal spiritual death. Sloth is defined as spiritual and/or actual apathy or laziness, putting off what God asks you to do, or not doing it or anything else at all. Acedia is a Latin word, from Greek, akedia, literally meaning "absence of caring". Acedia can, and often does, lead to God's wrath in a person's life. We point many times to those folks who are lazy physically and refuse or decline to get to work in our world. There is, however, a greater form of sloth or laziness we may tend to overlook. True, it is a sin to be slothful physically, but when God's people become slothful with HIS Word, no one benefits, including God.

God designed HIS Church with a mission or vocation. We are not to be simply enjoying the feast of HIS Word on a regular basis and never leaving the dining room. We are to take the energy, knowledge and nutrition of that spiritual food and share it with those who are starving to eternal death. Are you slothful in your life? For your own sake, physically, and the benefit of other souls around you, spiritually, get busy doing what you already know is God's will. You will feel better for it and others will thank you in eternity.

God bless and stay faithful to His Word. See you next time...