All this time I had thought the sluggard was named for the slug. It turns out the truth is just the opposite. The little shell-less snail began to be called a “slug” in the English language in the early 18th century because only a lazy man—a “slug”—moves so slowly.
The sluggard lies there, attached to his bed like a door to its hinges (Pr 26:14). The sluggard rests from work he’s not done (6:9). He is filled with longing but empty of effort to achieve his desire (13:4). He rests before his work is done but never starts again (20:4). He’s practiced in making excuses sound reasonable in order to keep from doing necessary work (Pr 22:13; 26:13).
Proverbs 10:26 says this: “Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.” Vinegar breaks down calcium, causing teeth to weaken and the mouth to pucker. Anyone who’s sat around a campfire knows the feeling of smoke burning the eyes when the wind changes direction. Vinegar and smoke are both irritating, as is entrusting a task to someone who fails to do it. Being slow to obey is disobeying. The Septuagint (LXX) translation even says “law-breaker” instead of “sluggard.”
When our children were very little, we dressed them, brushed their teeth, fastened them into their carseats, and did many of these things for them. But then we showed them how button-holes work, taught them the complicated skill of matching the shape of the shoe to the appropriate foot, and demonstrated again and again how seatbelts buckle. So now when we say to our little ones, “Okay! Everyone please get your shoes, coats, and get in the car!” we expect to find our children completely clothed and buckled-in to their seats within a few minutes. And then there are the times a little girl has gotten distracted tucking in her baby dolls or a little boy has forgotten to locate his shoes when the Legos on the floor are calling to him. It’s smoke to the eyes, which is why we work to train our children that “Obedience is first time, right away, all the way, with a happy heart.”
And then God says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people” (Rom 10:21). God keeps calling, instructing, and warning, and what does he get? When we’re told, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving,” are we sluggish about it (Eph 5:4)? Or when we’re told to be wise and make “the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (v. 16)? Or when Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to preparing for the wedding feast or to the master entrusting his servants with portions of treasure (Mt 25)? Isn’t Jesus warning us against sluggishness? Just as poverty came like a robber on the sluggard whose field was barren and fruitless in Proverbs 24:30-34, Jesus promises his coming will be like a thief in the night to those who have been slow to prepare for his return (Mt 24:43; 1 Th 5:2; 2 Pet 3:10). Will he find we’ve been sluggish to obey him? Will he find us fruitless?
The sluggard will find that serving God gets harder and harder the longer he puts off obedience. Like a hedge of thorns obstructing his path, laziness makes his way of life more and more difficult (Pr 15:19). We call it procrastinating; wisdom calls it senseless (Pr 24:30). May we obey the first time, right away, all the way, with a happy heart. May we not be smoke in the eyes of the Lord, he who has sent us as messengers to proclaim his excellencies (1 Pet 2:9).
—Justin Dobbs