Proverbs 18 : 9 Idle Hands . . .

Pro 18:9  He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.

Hi y'all, it's Snoodles here, and I'll be with you all of this week. If the thoughts of springtime have you feeling lazy, you might want to come back tomorrow.  I'm just kidding, OK?

You may be wondering what in the world Solomon, the wealthy king, knew of "work" . . .  While it's true that he probably didn't put his gloves on and tend the garden, help build a road, or hammer a few nails in the building of the temple,  I imagine he stayed pretty busy. Think about it: he had both a huge household and a small nation to be responsible for. There were issues of procuring resources, building the temple, maintaining the army, securing the borders and appeasing the occasional angry king next door.  I expect that he stayed involved in these matters, using the wisdom that God had bestowed upon him.

What does that have to do with us? Solomon says that it is just as bad to be wasteful of the blessings and talents that God has gifted us, as it is to be idle -- slothful, in our work. But what is our "work"? For some of us, it is being that Very Important Person: mother (or grandmother). We may also have responsibilities in a job inside or outside the home, to help meet the family's needs.
Digging a little deeper, we all have the responsibility to be a witness for our Lord; we should also be certain to include prayer time and Bible study in our day. That is how we gain the wisdom and the "fuel," so to speak, to keep us going in our service to Him.  Matthew Henry's commentary mentions that if we are "trifling and careless" in our spiritual life, then we are just as guilty as those who are idle or wasteful in their physical lives.

Lord, nudge me to spend time with you, receiving just what you know that I need, to do a good job for you today.