WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:03.240 As the rivers of water, he turneth it wither, soever he will. 00:03.240 --> 00:05.080 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, 00:05.080 --> 00:07.040 but the Lord pondereth the hearts. 00:07.040 --> 00:09.160 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable 00:09.160 --> 00:11.280 to the Lord than sacrifice. 00:11.280 --> 00:12.920 A high look and a proud heart, 00:12.920 --> 00:15.200 and the plowing of sin is wicked. 00:15.200 --> 00:16.620 Wicked is sin. 00:16.620 --> 00:19.400 The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plentiousness, 00:19.400 --> 00:21.760 but of everyone that is hasty only to want, 00:21.760 --> 00:24.160 the getting of treasures by a lying tongue 00:24.160 --> 00:27.360 is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death. 00:27.360 --> 00:29.200 The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them 00:29.280 --> 00:31.320 because they refuse to do judgment. 00:31.320 --> 00:33.020 The way of a man is foward and strange, 00:33.020 --> 00:34.940 but as for the pure, his work is right. 00:34.940 --> 00:37.040 It is better to dwell in the corner of a housetop 00:37.040 --> 00:39.360 than with a brawling woman in a wide house. 00:39.360 --> 00:41.160 The soul of the wicked desireth evil, 00:41.160 --> 00:43.480 his neighbor findeth no favor in his eyes. 00:43.480 --> 00:45.960 When the scornor is punished, the simple is made wise, 00:45.960 --> 00:49.040 and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge. 00:49.040 --> 00:51.600 The righteous man wisely considerth the house of the wicked, 00:51.600 --> 00:54.160 but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness. 00:54.160 --> 00:56.300 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, 00:56.300 --> 00:59.820 he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. 00:59.820 --> 01:01.720 A gift in secret pacifyeth anger, 01:01.720 --> 01:04.260 and a reward in the bosom's strong wrath. 01:04.260 --> 01:08.740 It is joy to the just to do judgment, 01:08.740 --> 01:11.580 but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. 01:11.580 --> 01:13.660 The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding 01:13.660 --> 01:15.740 shall remain in the congregation of the dead. 01:15.740 --> 01:18.420 He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man. 01:18.420 --> 01:21.660 He that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. 01:21.660 --> 01:23.740 The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, 01:23.780 --> 01:26.620 and the transgressor for the upright. 01:26.620 --> 01:28.300 It is better to dwell in the wilderness 01:28.300 --> 01:30.980 than with a contentious and an angry woman. 01:30.980 --> 01:33.020 There is treasure to be desired and oil 01:33.020 --> 01:34.140 in the dwelling of the wise, 01:34.140 --> 01:36.220 but a foolish man spendeth it up. 01:36.220 --> 01:38.420 He that followeth after righteousness and mercy 01:38.420 --> 01:41.180 findeth life, righteousness, and honor. 01:41.180 --> 01:42.940 A wise man scaleeth the city of the mighty 01:42.940 --> 01:45.740 and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof. 01:45.740 --> 01:47.640 Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue 01:47.640 --> 01:49.800 keepeth his soul from troubles. 01:49.800 --> 01:51.580 Proud and haughty scornor is his name 01:51.580 --> 01:53.620 who dealeth in proud wrath. 01:54.500 --> 01:55.660 The desire of the slothful killeth him, 01:55.660 --> 01:57.660 for his hands refuse to labor. 01:57.660 --> 01:59.460 He coveteth greedily all the day long, 01:59.460 --> 02:01.620 but the righteous giveth and spareth not. 02:01.620 --> 02:04.220 The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination. 02:04.220 --> 02:07.820 How much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind. 02:07.820 --> 02:09.660 A false witness shall perish, 02:09.660 --> 02:11.860 but the man that hearth speaketh constantly. 02:11.860 --> 02:13.740 Wicked man hardeneth his face, 02:13.740 --> 02:16.960 but as for the upright he directeth his way. 02:16.960 --> 02:18.500 There is no wisdom nor understanding 02:18.500 --> 02:20.320 nor counsel against the Lord. 02:20.320 --> 02:22.140 The high horse is prepared against the day of battle, 02:22.140 --> 02:24.020 but safety is of the Lord. 02:24.020 --> 02:24.860 Let's pray. 02:24.860 --> 02:25.680 Dear Lord, God, just thank you for this time 02:25.680 --> 02:26.520 we have this evening, Lord, 02:26.520 --> 02:27.740 to hear the preaching of the word. 02:27.740 --> 02:29.300 We just pray that you bless the service, Lord, 02:29.300 --> 02:30.700 and bless the preaching, Lord. 02:30.700 --> 02:32.700 Brother Hernandez with your Holy Spirit, Lord, 02:32.700 --> 02:34.300 as you preach unto us your word, 02:34.300 --> 02:36.060 that us in the congregation could take these truths 02:36.060 --> 02:37.220 from your word and apply it to our lives. 02:37.220 --> 02:38.060 We love you, Lord. 02:38.060 --> 02:39.860 We pray this all in Jesus' name, amen. 02:41.260 --> 02:42.160 Amen. 02:42.160 --> 02:44.220 All right, were you there in Proverbs chapter 21? 02:44.220 --> 02:46.540 Look down at your Bibles at verse number 25. 02:46.540 --> 02:49.500 The Bible says the desire of the slothful killeth him, 02:49.500 --> 02:51.620 for his hands refuse to labor. 02:51.620 --> 02:52.940 And the title of the sermon this evening 02:52.940 --> 02:55.300 is the desire of the slothful, 02:55.300 --> 02:57.300 the desire of the slothful, 02:57.300 --> 03:00.160 or another name would just be like, don't be lazy, right? 03:00.160 --> 03:01.180 Don't be lazy. 03:01.180 --> 03:03.900 And here in Proverbs, we see the book of Proverbs 03:03.900 --> 03:05.940 talk about all kinds of different kinds of people. 03:05.940 --> 03:08.340 You know, it talks about the wise man, the fool. 03:08.340 --> 03:10.220 It talks about the simple man. 03:10.220 --> 03:11.940 It talks about the strange woman. 03:11.940 --> 03:13.660 It talks about people that are diligent. 03:13.660 --> 03:16.220 It gives all kinds of characteristics of different people. 03:16.220 --> 03:18.060 And tonight I just wanna highlight this person 03:18.060 --> 03:19.820 known as the slothful man, 03:19.820 --> 03:21.660 or somebody that the Bible refers to 03:21.660 --> 03:23.420 as somebody that is lazy. 03:23.420 --> 03:25.100 And, you know, make no mistake about it, 03:25.100 --> 03:26.780 being lazy is a sin. 03:26.780 --> 03:30.000 It's not something that God wants us to be as Christians. 03:30.000 --> 03:32.020 You know, as Christians, we need to be diligent. 03:32.020 --> 03:35.520 We need to be people of good work ethic, 03:35.520 --> 03:36.980 people that get things done, 03:36.980 --> 03:39.320 people that don't put off things till the next day. 03:39.320 --> 03:41.680 We need to be people that actually get the work done, 03:41.680 --> 03:44.720 because God has commanded us to do all kinds of things. 03:44.720 --> 03:46.820 And if we're lazy, none of that is ever gonna get done. 03:46.820 --> 03:49.020 And so this evening, I wanna talk about the slothful man 03:49.060 --> 03:50.300 and some of the characteristics 03:50.300 --> 03:51.700 and some of the things that we can do 03:51.700 --> 03:54.220 just practically to avoid being lazy. 03:54.220 --> 03:57.040 And this is not just something for the young people, 03:57.040 --> 03:59.900 but it's also for the older people like myself 03:59.900 --> 04:01.580 and even older than that, right? 04:01.580 --> 04:04.260 And, you know, this is also something that once in a while 04:04.260 --> 04:05.660 we have to hit a reset button, 04:05.660 --> 04:08.980 because if we're honest, you know, at times we can be lazy, 04:08.980 --> 04:11.980 we can be slothful, and it may be in different areas, 04:11.980 --> 04:13.380 but, you know, whatever the case may be, 04:13.380 --> 04:16.620 we all struggle with this at some point of our lives, 04:16.620 --> 04:17.820 you know, at some point of the week, 04:18.060 --> 04:19.180 at some point of the day. 04:19.180 --> 04:20.420 But these are something that, you know, 04:20.420 --> 04:22.220 all of us have to hit every once in a while, 04:22.220 --> 04:23.380 like I said, a reset button, 04:23.380 --> 04:24.980 and just remind ourselves that, you know, 04:24.980 --> 04:26.660 God doesn't want you to be lazy, 04:26.660 --> 04:29.060 he wants you to be diligent, 04:29.060 --> 04:30.980 he wants you to be a hard worker. 04:30.980 --> 04:33.300 And like I said, the Bible, the Book of Proverbs, 04:33.300 --> 04:35.500 just filled with all kinds of different characters. 04:35.500 --> 04:38.060 And it's a book that, you know, when you first get saved, 04:38.060 --> 04:40.620 a lot of us just, you know, gravitate towards, 04:40.620 --> 04:43.100 because as a lot of nuggets of truth, 04:43.100 --> 04:44.360 it has a lot of wisdom, 04:44.360 --> 04:46.200 and it has a lot of practical advice 04:46.200 --> 04:47.620 just for our everyday life. 04:48.420 --> 04:49.420 And it's a book filled with all kinds, 04:49.420 --> 04:50.660 like I said, of wisdom. 04:50.660 --> 04:53.420 It's just something that we can always apply on the daily. 04:53.420 --> 04:55.620 And then go to James chapter four, 04:55.620 --> 04:57.380 go to James chapter four. 04:57.380 --> 04:58.800 So right off the bat, I just wanna make it clear 04:58.800 --> 05:01.020 that laziness is a sin. 05:01.020 --> 05:04.860 And it's something that, you know, people maybe grow up 05:04.860 --> 05:06.860 and they become a lazy person, 05:06.860 --> 05:09.580 just because of the way that, you know, they were raised, 05:09.580 --> 05:12.340 just because of the kind of appearance that they had. 05:12.340 --> 05:13.740 And it's just something that they picked up, 05:13.740 --> 05:15.420 you know, things are caught sometimes more 05:15.420 --> 05:17.660 than what they're taught, right? 05:17.660 --> 05:19.540 If a child just sees their parent 05:19.540 --> 05:21.100 just being lazy all the time, 05:21.100 --> 05:22.780 not getting things done, you know, 05:22.780 --> 05:26.060 having the house a mess, or just like not doing anything, 05:26.060 --> 05:28.020 the mom's on the phone all day long, 05:28.020 --> 05:30.220 or on the TV, or whatever the case may be, 05:30.220 --> 05:33.340 you know, your child is more likely to pick up that habit 05:33.340 --> 05:35.020 and be a lazy person as well. 05:35.020 --> 05:36.420 And as parents, you know, that's something 05:36.420 --> 05:38.920 that we shouldn't want for our kids to be, you know, 05:38.920 --> 05:40.620 that would be a disservice to them. 05:40.620 --> 05:42.220 And because society today, you know, 05:42.220 --> 05:44.340 there's a lot of lazy people out there. 05:44.340 --> 05:46.900 And I'm sure you guys seen them, you guys know them, 05:46.900 --> 05:48.260 maybe there's one in here, no. 05:48.260 --> 05:51.060 But you know, there's people out there that are just lazy, 05:51.060 --> 05:53.300 you know, and it's frustrating when you have to deal 05:53.300 --> 05:54.900 with people that are just slothful. 05:54.900 --> 05:56.740 It's frustrating when you have to work 05:56.740 --> 05:58.340 with somebody that's lazy, you know, 05:58.340 --> 06:00.700 you have to pick up on some of the work 06:00.700 --> 06:01.980 that they should be doing. 06:01.980 --> 06:03.460 And like I said, it's just frustrating 06:03.460 --> 06:04.780 working with a lazy person. 06:04.780 --> 06:07.100 And let it not be said that we're lazy, 06:07.100 --> 06:08.580 or that we're characterized as somebody 06:08.580 --> 06:10.060 that's just slothful. 06:10.060 --> 06:12.500 So you're there in James Shatner four, 06:13.420 --> 06:15.740 look down on your Bibles and verse number. 06:16.740 --> 06:18.980 I didn't write the verse, but let me read it for you. 06:18.980 --> 06:19.820 It says that, 06:19.820 --> 06:21.260 therefore to him that knoweth to do good 06:21.260 --> 06:23.140 and doeth and not to him, it is sin. 06:23.140 --> 06:24.900 It's the very last word, avoiding responsibility 06:24.900 --> 06:26.740 as a Christian is a sin. 06:26.740 --> 06:29.240 And so we know that we should be hard workers. 06:29.240 --> 06:32.100 We know that we should have a good work ethic. 06:32.100 --> 06:34.300 And for us to ignore that commandment 06:34.300 --> 06:36.620 and just neglect doing the work, 06:36.620 --> 06:39.580 just not getting things done, that is a sin. 06:39.580 --> 06:40.940 And this evening, like I said, 06:40.980 --> 06:44.860 I wanna preach on the subject of being slothful. 06:44.860 --> 06:48.660 Beginning verse 25, go back to Proverbs chapter 21. 06:48.660 --> 06:50.240 Proverbs chapter 21. 06:51.380 --> 06:53.300 It's like yourself with saying that the desire 06:53.300 --> 06:55.260 of the slothful killeth him. 06:55.260 --> 06:57.780 And here's the thing, everybody in this room, 06:57.780 --> 07:00.220 as Christians, we do all have desires. 07:00.220 --> 07:02.840 We all have things that we want to accomplish, 07:02.840 --> 07:04.820 things that we want to get done, 07:04.820 --> 07:07.860 things as men and women, children of God, 07:07.860 --> 07:10.140 we wanna get done for the Lord. 07:10.140 --> 07:12.780 All of us, I believe, have that desire to serve God 07:12.780 --> 07:15.940 to our full capacity and do something great for God. 07:15.940 --> 07:18.900 But that's never gonna happen if we have this attitude, 07:18.900 --> 07:21.540 this mindset of just somebody that is lazy. 07:21.540 --> 07:24.460 And so in Proverbs 21, look down at verse 25, 07:24.460 --> 07:26.660 the Bible, as I said, says that the desire 07:26.660 --> 07:30.900 of the slothful killeth him for his hands refuse to labor. 07:30.900 --> 07:31.740 What do we see here? 07:31.740 --> 07:35.980 A slothful person, he just lets his body tell him what to do. 07:35.980 --> 07:39.100 They're ran by emotion, they're ran by 07:39.100 --> 07:40.940 just how they feel on that day. 07:40.940 --> 07:42.380 Maybe you don't get a lot of sleep, 07:42.380 --> 07:45.740 maybe you're just up all night watching things 07:45.740 --> 07:48.900 on your phone or just wasting time at night. 07:48.900 --> 07:50.740 And then when the morning comes, what happens? 07:50.740 --> 07:52.100 We regret it, right? 07:52.100 --> 07:56.360 But as grownups, as people that have responsibilities, 07:56.360 --> 07:58.660 we don't have that luxury of just deciding 07:58.660 --> 08:00.440 to stay in bed, right? 08:00.440 --> 08:03.020 To just hit the snooze button constantly. 08:03.020 --> 08:05.300 We don't have that luxury of just not getting up 08:05.300 --> 08:06.140 and going to work. 08:06.140 --> 08:07.780 No, this is something that as adults, 08:07.780 --> 08:10.780 we have to develop that discipline, that habit of, 08:10.780 --> 08:13.800 even though we feel tired, even though we wanna sleep 08:13.800 --> 08:16.700 a little bit more, we have things that we need to get done. 08:16.700 --> 08:19.660 And if you're slothful, you're gonna give in to your flesh, 08:19.660 --> 08:21.640 you're gonna give in to how you feel on that day, 08:21.640 --> 08:22.660 to what your body does. 08:22.660 --> 08:25.500 And like it says here, his hands refuse to labor. 08:25.500 --> 08:28.860 Is it like his hands are controlling him or something? 08:28.860 --> 08:31.680 Right, it's not, we control what we're gonna do 08:31.680 --> 08:33.540 and we shouldn't let our body tell us 08:33.540 --> 08:35.740 what needs to get done. 08:35.740 --> 08:39.420 And so go to Ephesians chapter two. 08:39.420 --> 08:40.640 Ephesians chapter two. 08:43.020 --> 08:44.940 You know, what does it mean to be slothful? 08:44.940 --> 08:46.820 You know, one of the definitions of slothfulness 08:46.820 --> 08:49.660 would just be somebody that lacks motivation, 08:49.660 --> 08:52.780 somebody that's lazy, somebody that's idle, 08:52.780 --> 08:55.160 somebody that just doesn't get things done. 08:55.160 --> 08:58.700 And there's many reasons why people are lazy today. 08:58.700 --> 09:00.460 Maybe it's a lack of motivation, you know, 09:00.460 --> 09:03.020 they're not really interested in the things that they do. 09:03.020 --> 09:08.020 They lack passion, you know, they lack motivation. 09:08.420 --> 09:10.500 You know, and it's something that we need to fix. 09:10.500 --> 09:12.020 If that's something that we struggle, 09:12.020 --> 09:14.780 it's something that we need to fix sooner rather than later. 09:14.780 --> 09:18.000 Because we can't go on in life just being lazy, 09:18.000 --> 09:19.680 being characterized as being lazy. 09:19.680 --> 09:20.700 Because what's gonna happen? 09:20.700 --> 09:22.340 No one's gonna entrust you with anything. 09:22.340 --> 09:24.020 No one's ever gonna delegate anything, 09:24.020 --> 09:25.620 any responsibility to you. 09:25.620 --> 09:26.460 Why? 09:26.460 --> 09:28.100 Because we can't put our trust or confidence 09:28.100 --> 09:29.540 in somebody that is slothful. 09:29.540 --> 09:31.060 And you don't wanna be characterized as somebody 09:31.060 --> 09:32.980 as like that, especially in church. 09:33.980 --> 09:35.820 So if you're there in Ephesians chapter two, 09:35.820 --> 09:38.620 I think I can tell you Ephesians chapter two. 09:38.620 --> 09:41.340 Before I get there, let me just see this real quick. 09:41.340 --> 09:43.460 Oh, so when we think about being slothful, 09:43.460 --> 09:45.540 you know, the Bible uses that word. 09:45.540 --> 09:46.660 And what is a sloth? 09:46.660 --> 09:49.140 You know, it's that animal that's super slow. 09:49.140 --> 09:51.500 That animal that has like these long arms, right? 09:51.500 --> 09:53.740 And the way that it walks, it's just super slow. 09:53.740 --> 09:56.020 And I was reading up on it and it's just like, 09:56.020 --> 09:58.460 it's probably like the slowest land mammal. 09:58.460 --> 10:01.580 And it says that it moves three feet per minute. 10:01.580 --> 10:02.740 You know, three feet per minute. 10:03.580 --> 10:04.420 How long is that? 10:04.420 --> 10:05.900 And maybe that's faster than some of you here. 10:05.900 --> 10:08.380 But you know, three feet per minute, 10:08.380 --> 10:10.060 that sloth is never gonna get anywhere. 10:10.060 --> 10:12.020 And I've seen videos where they're trying to cross the street 10:12.020 --> 10:14.100 and then somebody just comes and picks them up 10:14.100 --> 10:15.860 and the sloth is just like this 10:15.860 --> 10:17.740 and it just puts them across the street. 10:17.740 --> 10:19.460 And unfortunately, there is people out there 10:19.460 --> 10:21.020 that walk that slow. 10:21.020 --> 10:24.780 There's just no purpose, walking with no intent. 10:24.780 --> 10:26.820 And this kind of reminds me, my wife knows that 10:26.820 --> 10:28.780 this is one of my pet peeves when we go 10:28.780 --> 10:30.340 do an order pickup, right? 10:30.340 --> 10:31.860 And we're just waiting for the employee 10:31.900 --> 10:32.900 to come drop off the items. 10:32.900 --> 10:33.740 What happens? 10:33.740 --> 10:36.060 The employee is just taking their sweet time, 10:36.060 --> 10:38.100 walking off slow, like the sloth, 10:38.100 --> 10:39.660 and then they're just loading up their things, 10:39.660 --> 10:40.780 all slow, you know? 10:40.780 --> 10:42.700 And that's something that people that, 10:42.700 --> 10:45.300 when you have to be, you know, you have to be somewhere, 10:45.300 --> 10:46.980 you can't rely on people like that. 10:46.980 --> 10:48.420 They're gonna cause you to be late. 10:48.420 --> 10:49.860 So you don't wanna be known as somebody 10:49.860 --> 10:51.460 that just walks like a sloth, 10:51.460 --> 10:54.060 or what the Bible refers to as a slug or a snail, 10:54.060 --> 10:55.900 even slower than a sloth. 10:55.900 --> 10:58.460 Now, if you're there in Ephesians chapter two, 10:58.460 --> 11:01.020 I'm thankful that salvation is a free gift 11:01.060 --> 11:03.380 and it's not something that requires our effort, you know? 11:03.380 --> 11:05.740 It's not something that requires our work. 11:05.740 --> 11:07.660 And if it was based on works, you know, 11:07.660 --> 11:08.900 how many people would actually get saved? 11:08.900 --> 11:10.540 Not because obviously we're all sinful, 11:10.540 --> 11:12.740 but imagine it actually requires some effort. 11:12.740 --> 11:14.980 You'd be too lazy to do it even then. 11:14.980 --> 11:17.720 But thankfully, you know, God gave us salvation 11:17.720 --> 11:20.380 as a free gift by believing on Jesus Christ. 11:20.380 --> 11:21.540 He did all the work. 11:21.540 --> 11:24.140 All we have to do is just put our faith and trust in Him. 11:24.140 --> 11:24.980 All right? 11:24.980 --> 11:26.340 So if you're there in Ephesians two, nine, 11:26.340 --> 11:27.500 I'll read it for you. 11:27.500 --> 11:29.100 It says, for by grace are you saved through faith 11:29.100 --> 11:31.220 and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, 11:31.220 --> 11:33.300 not of works as any man should boast. 11:33.300 --> 11:35.900 So we all understand that salvation is a free gift. 11:35.900 --> 11:37.580 It's not something we have to work for, 11:37.580 --> 11:39.360 not of works as any man should boast. 11:39.360 --> 11:43.000 But then verse 10 says, for we are his workmanship, 11:43.000 --> 11:45.860 creating Christ Jesus unto good works, 11:45.860 --> 11:49.020 which God had before ordained that we should walk in them. 11:49.020 --> 11:51.100 So it just doesn't end in salvation. 11:51.100 --> 11:53.380 Like we don't get saved and then we go to heaven, right? 11:53.380 --> 11:55.620 We still gotta live in this earth. 11:55.620 --> 11:57.440 We still gotta get things done. 11:57.440 --> 11:59.200 We still gotta go to our job. 11:59.200 --> 12:00.440 We still gotta raise our kids. 12:00.440 --> 12:01.840 We still gotta do all kinds of things. 12:01.840 --> 12:04.160 And the Bible says that God prepared works 12:04.160 --> 12:05.760 that we should do them. 12:05.760 --> 12:09.100 And go to Titus chapter three, Titus chapter three. 12:09.100 --> 12:11.320 Again, I'm gonna read to you verse 10 from Ephesians two. 12:11.320 --> 12:13.200 It says, for we are his workmanship, 12:13.200 --> 12:16.040 creating Christ Jesus unto good works, 12:16.040 --> 12:18.860 which God had ordained before that we should walk in them. 12:18.860 --> 12:22.400 Titus chapter three, look down at verse number eight. 12:23.360 --> 12:25.480 The Bible says, this is a faithful saying, 12:25.480 --> 12:28.400 and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, 12:28.400 --> 12:30.120 that they which have believe in God 12:30.120 --> 12:33.120 might be careful to maintain good works. 12:33.120 --> 12:35.880 These things are good and profitable unto men. 12:35.880 --> 12:38.460 And see, our words do not save us. 12:38.460 --> 12:40.760 Our words do not prove that we are saved 12:40.760 --> 12:41.840 or anything like that. 12:41.840 --> 12:44.980 But our words are profitable unto men because what happens, 12:44.980 --> 12:48.200 if all we have is just our faith and it's a dead faith, 12:48.200 --> 12:50.040 that doesn't profit anybody. 12:50.040 --> 12:52.440 Us telling people be ye warm and fill 12:52.440 --> 12:54.640 and not providing the things that are necessary for them, 12:54.640 --> 12:55.880 that's not gonna help them at all. 12:55.880 --> 12:59.800 And so we're lazy and we never like to inconvenience 12:59.800 --> 13:02.320 ourselves, get out of our comfort zone. 13:02.320 --> 13:03.760 We're never gonna help anybody. 13:03.760 --> 13:05.680 And what does the Bible say, that we should do good 13:05.680 --> 13:08.760 unto others, especially them of the household of faith. 13:08.760 --> 13:11.560 And there are times, and if you're honest, 13:11.560 --> 13:14.800 where somebody needs help and somebody maybe needs a favor 13:14.800 --> 13:16.880 that it's an inconvenience sometimes, right? 13:16.880 --> 13:19.200 Because you do gotta take time out of your schedule. 13:19.200 --> 13:22.700 You do have to make the effort to go help them. 13:22.700 --> 13:24.920 But that's something that as a Christian out of love, 13:24.920 --> 13:27.220 you should do for your brethren. 13:27.220 --> 13:29.420 And let it not be said that we just couldn't help 13:29.420 --> 13:30.620 because we were lazy. 13:30.620 --> 13:32.580 Because they ask you, for example, 13:32.580 --> 13:36.060 somebody asks you to move and you live down the street. 13:36.060 --> 13:38.500 And you're like, I don't think I could help you move, 13:38.500 --> 13:40.540 actually, I might be busy that day. 13:40.540 --> 13:42.700 No, and then you know that you're not. 13:42.700 --> 13:46.280 And you're just in bed watching TV, watching movies. 13:46.280 --> 13:48.220 That's not profitable for that person. 13:48.220 --> 13:50.140 And if somebody asks you to, I'm about to move 13:50.140 --> 13:51.460 so I need help, no, just kidding. 13:51.460 --> 13:55.140 But if somebody asks you to move as Christians, 13:55.140 --> 13:58.860 if it's within our power to do good, we should do it. 13:58.860 --> 14:01.440 And it's not something that we should just be lazy 14:01.440 --> 14:04.260 because, oh, it's just inconvenient for us. 14:04.260 --> 14:08.460 Esteeming others requires us to put others before us. 14:08.460 --> 14:11.260 And it is inconvenient, let's be honest. 14:11.260 --> 14:13.180 But so we do it out of love. 14:13.180 --> 14:14.580 We're grownups already. 14:14.580 --> 14:18.180 We don't do everything that we feel comfortable doing. 14:18.180 --> 14:19.840 We have to get uncomfortable sometimes. 14:19.840 --> 14:21.240 We have to go out of our way. 14:22.040 --> 14:23.440 And if we're gonna do good unto others, 14:23.440 --> 14:25.960 it's gonna require effort on our end. 14:25.960 --> 14:28.120 So never take it for granted, also on the other side, 14:28.120 --> 14:31.320 that if a person is helping you, don't despise them. 14:31.320 --> 14:34.520 Be thankful, thank them. 14:34.520 --> 14:37.360 Now go to Proverbs chapter, go to Titus, 14:37.360 --> 14:38.600 actually, let me see. 14:38.600 --> 14:41.280 Go to Proverbs chapter 14, Proverbs chapter 14. 14:46.800 --> 14:49.040 So we said that a person that is slothful 14:49.080 --> 14:51.480 is characterized by somebody that is lazy. 14:51.480 --> 14:53.920 The Bible says in the first verse that we read 14:53.920 --> 14:56.920 that the desire of the sloth will killeth him. 14:56.920 --> 14:58.860 And it does kill him because obviously 14:58.860 --> 15:00.560 he wants to accomplish something. 15:00.560 --> 15:03.480 He just doesn't wanna put the work into getting it done. 15:03.480 --> 15:05.300 And we all wanna accomplish things, like I said, 15:05.300 --> 15:07.800 but some of us just want the product without the process. 15:07.800 --> 15:11.440 And anything worth doing, anything that's good, 15:11.440 --> 15:13.700 it does require some level of difficulty, 15:13.700 --> 15:15.020 some level of effort. 15:15.020 --> 15:17.240 Anything that's worth doing is gonna require work. 15:17.240 --> 15:20.320 And sad to say, a lot of us are not gonna get it done 15:20.320 --> 15:22.400 because we're not willing to go through that process. 15:22.400 --> 15:24.640 And this is something that's easy just to bring up 15:24.640 --> 15:26.080 because it's relatable. 15:26.080 --> 15:29.120 That process of just cutting weight 15:29.120 --> 15:32.760 or the process of just having some kind of exercise routine, 15:32.760 --> 15:36.200 it's gonna require some level of discipline. 15:36.200 --> 15:38.160 It's gonna require some level of effort. 15:38.160 --> 15:41.040 And it's not something that you could just cheat your way. 15:41.040 --> 15:43.320 I guess you could, but you shouldn't cheat your way 15:43.320 --> 15:45.600 in order to accomplish something like that. 15:45.600 --> 15:46.880 And so anything worth doing, 15:46.880 --> 15:48.660 it is gonna require some work. 15:48.660 --> 15:50.480 It's gonna require some patience. 15:50.480 --> 15:53.960 And unfortunately, a lot of people don't have that patience. 15:53.960 --> 15:55.380 They want it now. 15:55.380 --> 15:58.720 They want the product now without the process, like I said. 15:58.720 --> 16:01.240 And then go to Proverbs chapter 14. 16:02.160 --> 16:05.560 Proverbs chapter 14, the Bible says in verse 23, 16:05.560 --> 16:07.880 it says, in all labor there is profit, 16:07.880 --> 16:10.920 but the top of the lips tendeth only to pinery. 16:10.920 --> 16:14.120 And so here we see that in all labor there is profit. 16:14.120 --> 16:17.840 And so sometimes we have a task to get done. 16:17.840 --> 16:19.760 There's things that we want to accomplish, 16:19.760 --> 16:21.040 but the task is so big. 16:21.040 --> 16:23.080 And so we get paralyzed. 16:23.080 --> 16:27.060 The paralysis of the analysis. 16:27.060 --> 16:28.800 We look at something that has to get done. 16:28.800 --> 16:29.960 And then we think to ourselves, 16:29.960 --> 16:32.000 man, that's gonna take a long time. 16:32.000 --> 16:34.520 And instead of just breaking it up into parts, 16:34.520 --> 16:37.160 getting it done little by little, we just put it off. 16:37.160 --> 16:39.320 And by putting it off, it's never gonna get done. 16:39.320 --> 16:41.360 And so the Bible says in all labor there is profit. 16:41.360 --> 16:43.700 So even if you just work on it just a little bit, 16:43.700 --> 16:45.940 you're still further ahead than what you would have been 16:45.940 --> 16:47.220 if you didn't even start at all. 16:47.220 --> 16:50.340 And sometimes we tend to overthink, 16:50.340 --> 16:53.020 and we tend to over plan in the sense like, 16:53.020 --> 16:54.740 well, I just have to have everything right 16:54.740 --> 16:56.560 in order for me to get something done. 16:56.560 --> 16:58.060 But sometimes you just gotta knock it off. 16:58.060 --> 16:59.500 You gotta knock it out, right? 17:00.500 --> 17:03.180 And knock it off instead of being lazy. 17:03.180 --> 17:05.340 So then go to Proverbs chapter 13. 17:07.340 --> 17:08.540 And so talk is cheap. 17:09.380 --> 17:11.940 Just talking about it, you're not gonna get it done. 17:11.940 --> 17:13.520 Sometimes people don't wanna start on something 17:13.520 --> 17:15.640 because they know they're not gonna finish it, 17:15.640 --> 17:16.800 but that's not wise. 17:16.800 --> 17:18.080 Even if you're not gonna finish it, 17:18.080 --> 17:19.560 eventually you are gonna finish it, 17:19.560 --> 17:20.880 the more effort that you put into it, 17:20.880 --> 17:22.760 even if it's little by little. 17:22.760 --> 17:25.400 And like I said, sometimes that task seems too big. 17:25.400 --> 17:27.760 What we should do instead of just avoiding it, 17:27.760 --> 17:29.760 is just break it up into smaller tasks. 17:29.760 --> 17:32.120 Work on it little by little, and eventually, like I said, 17:32.120 --> 17:33.400 it is gonna get done. 17:33.400 --> 17:37.720 In Proverbs chapter 13, look down at verse number four, 17:37.720 --> 17:41.520 the Bible says, the soul of the slugger desireth 17:41.520 --> 17:43.980 and had nothing, but the soul of the diligent 17:43.980 --> 17:45.360 shall be made fat. 17:45.360 --> 17:47.600 And here we see the contrast between somebody 17:47.600 --> 17:50.920 that is diligent, that actually gets it done, 17:50.920 --> 17:53.800 and the slugger that desires but has nothing. 17:53.800 --> 17:55.600 And again, why does this person have nothing? 17:55.600 --> 17:57.720 Because they're not putting the work in order to achieve it, 17:57.720 --> 17:59.200 to accomplish it. 17:59.200 --> 18:02.000 A lot of people desire a promotion at work. 18:02.000 --> 18:04.960 A lot of people desire recognition. 18:04.960 --> 18:08.320 A lot of people desire just respect, right? 18:08.320 --> 18:11.200 But what are they doing to actually earn it? 18:11.200 --> 18:13.400 Why would your boss give you a promotion 18:13.400 --> 18:16.280 if you actually don't put in any work, right? 18:16.280 --> 18:19.040 It's not enough for you to just desire that promotion. 18:19.040 --> 18:20.480 You have to put in the work. 18:20.480 --> 18:23.120 And a boss is not gonna look at you and see, 18:23.120 --> 18:24.280 you know, this person is lazy, 18:24.280 --> 18:25.540 let me just make him a supervisor. 18:25.540 --> 18:26.840 No, that's not how it works. 18:26.840 --> 18:28.920 Unfortunately, sometimes it does happen 18:28.920 --> 18:30.960 because maybe that's their relative. 18:30.960 --> 18:32.080 But more often than not, you know, 18:32.080 --> 18:34.440 you actually do have to put in the work 18:34.440 --> 18:38.700 in order to move up in the ladder. 18:38.700 --> 18:41.780 And so go to Proverbs chapter 18, Proverbs 18. 18:41.780 --> 18:43.780 The first characteristic that we're covering right now 18:43.780 --> 18:47.660 is that the desire of the slothful killeth him. 18:47.660 --> 18:49.660 So everybody has desires, 18:49.660 --> 18:51.380 but the only people that are actually gonna get it done 18:51.380 --> 18:52.740 is the people that are diligent. 18:52.740 --> 18:55.860 So number one, we see that the slothful man desires, 18:55.860 --> 18:58.580 but it kills him because his hands refuse to labor. 18:58.580 --> 19:00.380 Number two, the second characteristic 19:00.380 --> 19:02.900 that I wanna cover regarding the slothful person 19:03.920 --> 19:06.420 is the fact that, you know, 19:06.420 --> 19:08.580 he's a brother to him that is a great waster. 19:09.460 --> 19:11.460 Go to Proverbs chapter 18, Proverbs chapter 18. 19:12.460 --> 19:14.540 And so we'll read that verse in verse number nine. 19:14.540 --> 19:17.740 The Bible says he also that is slothful in his work 19:17.740 --> 19:20.940 is brother to him that is a great waster. 19:20.940 --> 19:23.580 And isn't this something that we see, right, 19:23.580 --> 19:25.300 in everyday life, somebody that, 19:25.300 --> 19:28.820 first of all, they're already lazy to even get anything done. 19:28.820 --> 19:31.480 But then second of all, when they actually accomplish it 19:31.480 --> 19:33.760 and they get the resources, what happens? 19:33.760 --> 19:35.380 It just goes to waste. 19:35.380 --> 19:37.700 You know, sometimes people work hard 19:37.700 --> 19:40.300 and they buy the food and they buy groceries. 19:40.300 --> 19:41.900 Here's like a practical example and what happens? 19:41.900 --> 19:44.460 It goes to waste because you're lazy to cook it, right? 19:44.460 --> 19:45.600 Instead, what do we do? 19:45.600 --> 19:46.440 What's easier? 19:46.440 --> 19:47.700 Going to McDonald's. 19:47.700 --> 19:50.900 Going to In-N-Out, you know, what's easier? 19:50.900 --> 19:51.860 Just eating out. 19:51.860 --> 19:53.400 I'm not gonna lie, that's easier 19:53.400 --> 19:55.180 than having to cook the meal at home. 19:55.180 --> 19:56.620 But if you're gonna be diligent, you know, 19:56.620 --> 19:58.780 it's something that we should not be characterized 19:58.780 --> 20:01.180 as just wasting the food that we work hard to buy. 20:01.180 --> 20:02.500 Amen. 20:02.500 --> 20:05.060 And let's see, go to Proverbs chapter 12. 20:05.060 --> 20:06.180 Proverbs chapter 12. 20:06.220 --> 20:08.420 And so the Bible says right here that he that is slothful 20:08.420 --> 20:11.900 in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. 20:11.900 --> 20:15.340 And so these two go hand in hand, somebody that is lazy. 20:15.340 --> 20:16.180 What's gonna happen? 20:16.180 --> 20:17.500 They're gonna waste their resources. 20:17.500 --> 20:19.460 And I'll never forget this one time, you know, 20:19.460 --> 20:21.500 obviously there's always panhandlers out. 20:21.500 --> 20:23.380 And this is before I even got into church 20:23.380 --> 20:24.860 and I was kind of like shocked. 20:24.860 --> 20:26.260 I don't know why it shouldn't have been, 20:26.260 --> 20:29.700 but I was just buying like a pizza and what happened? 20:29.700 --> 20:32.380 Oh, I walk out and the guy was just asking for money. 20:32.380 --> 20:33.660 And I was just like, well, I don't got any money. 20:33.660 --> 20:34.500 I'll just give him a slice. 20:34.500 --> 20:36.820 I gave him a slice and this guy literally just takes 20:36.820 --> 20:38.580 the slice and leaves it in a bowl. 20:38.580 --> 20:40.220 And I was just like, what the heck? 20:40.220 --> 20:41.940 Like why is this guy wasting the food 20:41.940 --> 20:42.940 that I just gave him, right? 20:42.940 --> 20:44.740 But it's because he's lazy, right? 20:44.740 --> 20:45.980 It didn't cost him anything. 20:45.980 --> 20:47.940 And he didn't have to work hard for that food. 20:47.940 --> 20:50.940 And so it was easy for him to just let it go to waste. 20:50.940 --> 20:53.060 And so now, obviously now that I know, you know, 20:53.060 --> 20:54.900 that a person, you know, if they're not willing to work, 20:54.900 --> 20:55.740 they shouldn't eat. 20:55.740 --> 20:57.180 I'm not gonna let that happen again. 20:57.180 --> 21:00.280 But before I made that mistake, I was young, I was naive, 21:00.280 --> 21:03.140 but you know, that's a lesson that I learned early on. 21:03.140 --> 21:06.340 And so in Proverbs chapter 18, oh, we read that already, 21:06.340 --> 21:09.260 go to Proverbs chapter 12, the Bible says in verse 27, 21:09.260 --> 21:12.500 the slothful man roasted not that which he took in hunting, 21:12.500 --> 21:15.220 but the substance of a diligent man is precious. 21:15.220 --> 21:17.420 And so this was a harder time, you know, 21:17.420 --> 21:19.400 where you actually had to go and hunt 21:19.400 --> 21:20.920 what you were gonna go eat. 21:20.920 --> 21:22.700 We have it a lot easier today where we literally 21:22.700 --> 21:25.620 just have to drive to the store, buy what we need, 21:25.620 --> 21:27.860 but then also people just let it go to waste. 21:27.860 --> 21:31.180 Now we even have the commodity of ordering food, 21:31.180 --> 21:35.060 Uber Eats, what else is there, Door Dash, 21:35.060 --> 21:36.860 who said that, who uses that? 21:36.860 --> 21:38.540 But you know, you have the commodity 21:38.540 --> 21:40.100 of just ordering food to your house, 21:40.100 --> 21:42.140 you no longer have to leave where you live, 21:42.140 --> 21:44.900 but then what happens, these people still tend to waste it. 21:44.900 --> 21:46.060 Easy come, easy go. 21:46.900 --> 21:50.360 Now go to Proverbs chapter 24, Proverbs chapter 24. 21:51.900 --> 21:54.140 And so here we see the second characteristic 21:54.140 --> 21:55.860 of somebody that's slothful. 21:55.860 --> 21:58.260 It says that he's a brother to him that is a great waster. 21:58.260 --> 22:01.580 And you know, God has given us all kinds of resources. 22:01.580 --> 22:03.740 God has given us, you know, 22:03.740 --> 22:06.140 it doesn't matter how our upbringing was. 22:06.140 --> 22:08.740 You know, maybe we did grow up in a household 22:08.740 --> 22:10.540 where being lazy was the norm, 22:10.540 --> 22:13.540 where anybody in the house would just sit around, 22:13.540 --> 22:17.820 you know, the dad's on the TV, the mom's just on the phone, 22:17.820 --> 22:20.140 and then the child's just playing Nintendo or whatever. 22:20.140 --> 22:21.860 You know, that's how some people were raised. 22:21.860 --> 22:24.940 But now that we're saved, now that we come to church, 22:24.940 --> 22:26.780 now that we hear preaching from the word of God, 22:26.780 --> 22:30.140 we shouldn't use our upbringing as a justification 22:30.140 --> 22:31.500 for us being lazy. 22:31.500 --> 22:32.600 And all that to say is like, 22:32.600 --> 22:34.820 we should know better than that, right? 22:34.820 --> 22:37.060 As Christians, as fundamental Baptists, 22:37.060 --> 22:38.660 we wanna be characterized as people 22:38.660 --> 22:40.100 that actually get work done. 22:40.980 --> 22:43.660 And so I told you go to Proverbs chapter 24, 22:43.660 --> 22:45.540 look down at verse number 30. 22:45.540 --> 22:48.180 The Bible says, I went by the field of the slothful 22:48.180 --> 22:51.380 and by the vineyard of the man of void of understanding. 22:51.380 --> 22:54.580 And Loei was all grown over with thorns and nettles 22:54.580 --> 22:56.060 that had covered the face thereof 22:56.060 --> 22:58.260 and the stone wall thereof was broken down. 22:58.260 --> 23:00.420 Then I saw and considered it well, 23:00.420 --> 23:03.180 and I looked upon it and received instruction. 23:03.180 --> 23:05.380 And so here we see the Bible saying that 23:05.380 --> 23:07.700 of a guy that went by the field of the slothful. 23:07.700 --> 23:09.260 And the first thing that we can notice is that 23:09.260 --> 23:11.660 this slothful person, despite him being lazy, 23:11.660 --> 23:13.260 he still had a field, right? 23:13.260 --> 23:16.100 And God has given to us all kinds of resources. 23:16.100 --> 23:18.900 He has given us a place to live. 23:18.900 --> 23:20.700 He has given us a vehicle. 23:20.700 --> 23:23.220 But what happens if we're lazy, if we're slothful, 23:23.220 --> 23:24.360 it's gonna fall apart. 23:25.200 --> 23:26.040 It's gonna deteriorate. 23:26.040 --> 23:30.120 If we have like a yard, if we have any kind of like a house, 23:30.120 --> 23:31.800 that requires a lot of maintenance. 23:31.800 --> 23:34.920 You can't just live there and never do touch-ups, 23:34.920 --> 23:36.480 never mow the lawn. 23:36.480 --> 23:38.620 You could just, if you just let it be, 23:38.620 --> 23:39.460 what's gonna happen? 23:39.460 --> 23:40.280 It's gonna overgrow. 23:40.280 --> 23:42.960 And a lot of times we go to places out sowing 23:42.960 --> 23:43.800 and what happens? 23:43.800 --> 23:46.240 We see the yards where it's all grown, 23:46.240 --> 23:49.760 weeds, soda cans, beer cans on the yard, 23:49.760 --> 23:52.720 things falling apart, the roof is coming apart. 23:52.720 --> 23:53.540 Why? 23:53.700 --> 23:55.460 Because the people that live there, unfortunately, 23:55.460 --> 23:57.900 they weren't taught a good work ethic. 23:57.900 --> 24:01.340 And so they're lazy and their house is deteriorating. 24:01.340 --> 24:05.460 And this is just a characteristic of somebody that's slothful. 24:05.460 --> 24:07.700 And there's really no nice way to put it. 24:07.700 --> 24:11.500 There's no reason why our resources should be wasted. 24:11.500 --> 24:13.480 And if it is wasted, it's just a sign 24:13.480 --> 24:16.420 that maybe we need to pick up the slack. 24:16.420 --> 24:19.500 We need to change our mindset and learn to take the things, 24:19.500 --> 24:22.460 take care of the things that God has given us. 24:22.460 --> 24:25.780 Now go to Proverbs chapter 24, Proverbs chapter 24. 24:27.540 --> 24:29.420 So here we see, like I said, before I move on, 24:29.420 --> 24:31.980 is that this slothful person, despite being lazy, 24:31.980 --> 24:33.260 he still has a vineyard. 24:34.180 --> 24:36.660 And so the problem with it is that the stone wall 24:36.660 --> 24:37.940 is broken down. 24:37.940 --> 24:40.980 And I liken it to when we go to houses, 24:40.980 --> 24:43.740 the yard's just falling apart, the gate is coming apart, 24:43.740 --> 24:45.160 the wood is broken. 24:45.160 --> 24:46.340 They still have a house. 24:46.340 --> 24:48.340 And oftentimes people tell themselves, 24:48.340 --> 24:50.780 well, if I had a nicer house, then I would take care of it. 24:50.780 --> 24:52.300 Or if I had a newer car, then it 24:52.300 --> 24:54.060 would be worth keeping clean. 24:54.060 --> 24:56.560 And if you're not faithful in the little, 24:56.560 --> 24:58.060 you're not going to be faithful in the much. 24:58.060 --> 25:00.180 If you had a bigger house, what's going to happen? 25:00.180 --> 25:02.220 It's going to be a bigger mess. 25:02.220 --> 25:03.900 You're like, oh, I live in a small home. 25:03.900 --> 25:04.560 That's why it's a mess. 25:04.560 --> 25:06.900 No, if you had a bigger house, you had more rooms, 25:06.900 --> 25:09.020 you had more restrooms, whatever the case may be, 25:09.020 --> 25:10.860 it's just going to be a bigger mess. 25:10.860 --> 25:12.820 The mess that you have right now in the little home 25:12.820 --> 25:15.320 that you have, it's going to be a bigger mess in the bigger 25:15.320 --> 25:17.780 house that one day you desire. 25:17.780 --> 25:20.140 Somebody desires, but their hands refuse to labor. 25:20.140 --> 25:21.820 But if you ever get it, that's not 25:21.820 --> 25:23.740 going to change the fact that if you're lazy, 25:23.740 --> 25:25.140 it's still going to be a mess. 25:25.140 --> 25:27.020 It's still going to deteriorate. 25:27.020 --> 25:32.860 So go to Proverbs chapter 24, look down at verse number 33. 25:32.860 --> 25:35.660 Here's another characteristic of somebody that is slothful. 25:35.660 --> 25:38.060 It says that, get a little sleep in a little slumber, 25:38.060 --> 25:40.180 a little folding of the hands to sleep, 25:40.180 --> 25:43.060 so shall thy poverty come as one that travaileth, 25:43.060 --> 25:44.860 and thy want as an arm man. 25:44.860 --> 25:47.880 And so another characteristic of somebody that is lazy, 25:47.880 --> 25:50.880 number one we said is that their hands refuse to work. 25:50.880 --> 25:53.160 They do have desires, but their hands refuse to work, 25:53.160 --> 25:55.440 so their desires kill them, killeth them. 25:55.440 --> 25:58.760 And then number two is that they're a great waster. 25:58.760 --> 26:00.400 And here we see the third characteristic 26:00.400 --> 26:04.080 is that somebody that is slothful loves to sleep. 26:04.080 --> 26:06.640 Now sleep, don't get me wrong, it's nothing bad. 26:06.640 --> 26:08.440 Obviously we all need the rest. 26:08.440 --> 26:12.520 We all need to recover every night from a hard day's work. 26:12.520 --> 26:14.240 But here's the difference. 26:14.240 --> 26:15.920 If you're just somebody that's lazy, 26:15.920 --> 26:18.240 laziness actually begets laziness. 26:18.240 --> 26:20.320 If you're not doing anything all day, 26:20.320 --> 26:22.360 and then what tends to happen? 26:22.360 --> 26:25.320 People feel tired, even though they weren't doing anything. 26:25.320 --> 26:27.440 But they're tired of just being lazy. 26:27.440 --> 26:29.480 And so what happens, they take naps. 26:29.480 --> 26:30.520 Nothing wrong with naps. 26:30.520 --> 26:31.760 Little kids take them. 26:31.760 --> 26:34.700 But nothing wrong with naps. 26:34.700 --> 26:35.760 Sometimes you do need it. 26:35.760 --> 26:37.200 Maybe you're working hard. 26:37.200 --> 26:39.240 But the thing is this, that somebody that's slothful 26:39.240 --> 26:40.280 loves to sleep. 26:40.280 --> 26:42.440 And the Bible says right here, get a little sleep, 26:42.440 --> 26:44.820 a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, 26:44.820 --> 26:46.820 and you'll see a whole show of poverty come as one 26:46.820 --> 26:47.700 that you're veiled. 26:47.700 --> 26:50.220 And so what happens, people that tend to be lazy, 26:50.220 --> 26:51.860 they're going to end up being poor. 26:51.860 --> 26:55.140 And it's simply because they rather just choose to sleep 26:55.140 --> 26:56.940 than actually going to work. 26:56.940 --> 26:59.940 What if somebody is out partying all night on the weekend, 26:59.940 --> 27:00.900 and then what happens? 27:00.900 --> 27:02.460 They call off. 27:02.460 --> 27:03.540 And they miss work. 27:03.540 --> 27:06.500 And now what happens, the paycheck is just smaller. 27:06.500 --> 27:08.900 And this is all because, it's not 27:08.900 --> 27:10.100 because they didn't have work. 27:10.100 --> 27:11.340 It's because they called off. 27:11.340 --> 27:12.740 It's because they were being lazy. 27:12.740 --> 27:14.060 And they refuse. 27:14.060 --> 27:17.260 Instead of just being a grown up and saying, you know what? 27:17.260 --> 27:18.580 I'm going to forego sleep. 27:18.580 --> 27:20.660 That was my fault that I was out all night. 27:20.660 --> 27:21.780 They choose to sleep in. 27:21.780 --> 27:24.020 And the Bible says right here, a little folding of the hands. 27:24.020 --> 27:24.820 And I always thought that was funny, 27:24.820 --> 27:26.820 because that is typically how people take naps. 27:26.820 --> 27:28.820 Just like when you're older, you're 27:28.820 --> 27:30.940 just sitting on the couch just like this. 27:30.940 --> 27:33.980 But the Bible says true all the time. 27:33.980 --> 27:36.660 And go to Psalm 127. 27:36.660 --> 27:40.500 Psalm 127. 27:40.500 --> 27:42.520 And so the point I'm making now is 27:42.520 --> 27:44.800 that the slugger or the slothful person, 27:44.800 --> 27:46.040 they love to sleep. 27:46.040 --> 27:48.160 And like I said, there's nothing wrong with sleeping. 27:48.160 --> 27:50.080 There's nothing wrong with sleeping at all. 27:50.080 --> 27:51.360 We all need it. 27:51.360 --> 27:52.400 We need to recover. 27:52.400 --> 27:53.600 But here's the difference. 27:53.600 --> 27:55.400 Some people sleep at the end of the night 27:55.400 --> 27:57.320 knowing that they got a lot of things done. 27:57.320 --> 28:00.120 And they're tired from the work that they actually put in. 28:00.120 --> 28:03.080 The Bible says that he giveeth his beloved sleep. 28:03.080 --> 28:06.200 And so there's a difference from just resting and being tired, 28:06.200 --> 28:07.920 because you were out all day working, 28:07.920 --> 28:09.760 than the person that was not doing anything. 28:09.760 --> 28:11.560 And they're just tired. 28:11.560 --> 28:14.160 Tired for no reason at all. 28:14.160 --> 28:17.300 And so in Psalm 127, look down at verse number two, 28:17.300 --> 28:20.760 the Bible says, it is vain for you to rise up early 28:20.760 --> 28:23.120 and to sit up late to eat the bread of sorrows, 28:23.120 --> 28:25.920 for so he giveeth his beloved sleep. 28:25.920 --> 28:27.300 And as I said, a hard day's work. 28:27.300 --> 28:28.480 You get a lot done. 28:28.480 --> 28:30.480 You do some exercise. 28:30.480 --> 28:31.920 An hour's worth of exercise. 28:31.920 --> 28:35.520 You're going to be pretty dead by the end of the day. 28:35.520 --> 28:40.280 And so things like people that exercise 28:40.280 --> 28:44.280 and that are just people that are constantly moving, 28:44.280 --> 28:46.760 for some reason, and I don't know what the science is 28:46.760 --> 28:48.400 behind it, but the more that you do, 28:48.400 --> 28:50.920 it seems to be like the more energy that you get. 28:50.920 --> 28:53.800 You start off the day exercising, 28:53.800 --> 28:55.000 doing something that's hard. 28:55.000 --> 28:57.280 It's like you have more energy the rest of the day. 28:57.280 --> 28:59.440 But if you start the day off slow, 28:59.440 --> 29:02.800 and you don't even drink coffee, you're just moving so slow, 29:02.800 --> 29:05.520 you're going to be like that pretty much the rest of the day. 29:05.520 --> 29:08.160 And so if that's something that you tend to struggle with, 29:08.160 --> 29:11.680 if you have slow mornings, then I would just recommend, 29:11.680 --> 29:13.920 first of all, drink coffee in the morning. 29:13.920 --> 29:16.560 Don't drink tea unless you guys like tea. 29:16.560 --> 29:18.920 I know brother Jacob always drinks quads. 29:18.920 --> 29:21.040 You feel pretty lit after that. 29:21.040 --> 29:23.160 So that's one way to do it. 29:23.160 --> 29:25.000 But if you exercise, if you do something 29:25.000 --> 29:26.500 that's hard right off the bat, you're 29:26.500 --> 29:29.400 pretty much going to have energy the rest of the day. 29:29.400 --> 29:33.160 Now go to Proverbs chapter 19. 29:33.160 --> 29:35.280 The Bible says in verse 15, slothfulness 29:35.280 --> 29:38.280 cast it into a deep sleep, and an idle soul 29:38.280 --> 29:39.720 shall suffer hunger. 29:39.720 --> 29:41.680 And so this is another example of somebody 29:41.680 --> 29:44.440 that's tired from just not doing anything. 29:44.440 --> 29:46.400 And now go to Proverbs chapter 26. 29:46.400 --> 29:51.960 Proverbs chapter 26, verse 14. 29:51.960 --> 29:52.720 Proverbs 26. 29:58.640 --> 30:01.000 It says, as the door turneth upon his hinges, 30:01.000 --> 30:03.320 so doth the sloth fall upon his bed. 30:03.400 --> 30:04.880 And this is also a funny scenario, 30:04.880 --> 30:08.200 because I just pictured the alarm is just going off. 30:08.200 --> 30:10.280 The snooze button is getting hit, and this person, 30:10.280 --> 30:12.480 like it says, is just turning upon its bed, 30:12.480 --> 30:14.000 moving from side to side. 30:14.000 --> 30:16.720 And that's something that if you're lazy, 30:16.720 --> 30:20.160 I think this is a great picture to describe that kind of person. 30:20.160 --> 30:21.640 And go to Proverbs chapter 6. 30:21.640 --> 30:22.440 Proverbs chapter 6. 30:26.160 --> 30:28.840 And so like I said, laziness begets laziness. 30:28.840 --> 30:31.680 And what you need to do is that if that's you 30:31.680 --> 30:33.680 and if that's something that you struggle with. 30:33.680 --> 30:35.440 And I said, I'll be honest, that's 30:35.440 --> 30:37.400 something that all of us at one point or another 30:37.400 --> 30:38.360 we struggle with. 30:38.360 --> 30:42.320 But we just need to create some kind of motivation. 30:42.320 --> 30:45.640 There is some dopamine that we get when we get something done. 30:45.640 --> 30:47.080 And so one of the best ways to do it 30:47.080 --> 30:49.160 is just by doing smaller tasks. 30:49.160 --> 30:50.160 You feel accomplished. 30:50.160 --> 30:52.680 You get something done that's small, doesn't take that long. 30:52.680 --> 30:53.840 You get some dopamine. 30:53.840 --> 30:56.880 You do something else that's the same amount of time 30:56.880 --> 30:58.560 that it takes, you get more dopamine. 30:58.560 --> 31:00.720 And little by little, you start creating motivation 31:01.600 --> 31:02.640 harder tasks. 31:02.640 --> 31:06.240 So I think that's a very practical way to create momentum. 31:06.240 --> 31:10.800 And one thing that we can do is just being productive, 31:10.800 --> 31:12.800 taking the larger task eventually. 31:12.800 --> 31:15.760 Now go to Proverbs chapter 26. 31:15.760 --> 31:19.080 Proverbs chapter 26. 31:19.080 --> 31:21.200 And then for the ladies, I was thinking, 31:21.200 --> 31:22.160 what do they do all day? 31:22.160 --> 31:23.360 Nah, just kidding. 31:23.360 --> 31:28.440 The ladies, being keepers at home, there's a lot to do. 31:28.440 --> 31:30.000 Especially the more kids you have, 31:30.000 --> 31:31.680 the more clothes you have to wash, 31:31.680 --> 31:33.280 the more clothes you have to fold, 31:33.280 --> 31:35.640 the more cleaning you have to do, the more things break. 31:35.640 --> 31:39.840 But ladies, sometimes tasks are just daunting. 31:39.840 --> 31:42.120 They're like, oh, I don't really feel like doing anything 31:42.120 --> 31:44.360 because it's just a lot to clean. 31:44.360 --> 31:46.000 But if you take that practical advice, 31:46.000 --> 31:47.600 you just break it up into smaller tasks. 31:47.600 --> 31:49.440 Instead of trying to clean the whole house, 31:49.440 --> 31:51.360 just clean one room. 31:51.360 --> 31:55.600 Just clean the desk of miscellaneous things that are there. 31:55.600 --> 31:57.560 Everybody has that drawer where we have a bunch 31:57.560 --> 31:59.040 of just miscellaneous things. 31:59.040 --> 32:01.800 Just clear that out, do small tasks, 32:01.800 --> 32:03.960 and then you get that spike of dopamine. 32:03.960 --> 32:07.360 And so for the ladies, I just recommend just tackle one thing 32:07.360 --> 32:08.160 at a time. 32:08.160 --> 32:10.080 If you don't have kids, obviously there's still 32:10.080 --> 32:12.040 things that you could occupy yourself with, 32:12.040 --> 32:14.560 such as learning how to cook. 32:14.560 --> 32:16.240 I wouldn't say better, but just learning 32:16.240 --> 32:18.680 how to cook different kinds of meals, 32:18.680 --> 32:21.960 just exploring, broadening your skills. 32:21.960 --> 32:23.480 So go to Proverbs chapter 26. 32:23.480 --> 32:24.840 Look down at verse number 13. 32:24.840 --> 32:27.600 The Bible says, the slothful man saith, 32:27.640 --> 32:31.080 there is a lion in the way a lion is in the streets. 32:31.080 --> 32:33.000 And so the first characteristic that I covered 32:33.000 --> 32:36.320 is that a slothful person lets his body tell him what to do. 32:36.320 --> 32:38.320 The second one is that the slothful person 32:38.320 --> 32:39.880 is a great waster. 32:39.880 --> 32:41.960 And then the third, we saw that the slothful person 32:41.960 --> 32:43.040 loves to sleep. 32:43.040 --> 32:45.560 And here we see in this verse that another characteristic 32:45.560 --> 32:49.840 is that the slothful person likes to make excuses. 32:49.840 --> 32:52.440 The slothful person always has an excuse 32:52.440 --> 32:54.320 of why things can't get done. 32:54.320 --> 32:58.000 And as Christians, we should be problem solvers. 32:58.000 --> 33:00.600 We shouldn't be people that just look for problems 33:00.600 --> 33:03.040 and then just provide no solutions. 33:03.040 --> 33:05.400 And the slothful person is characterized as somebody 33:05.400 --> 33:08.200 that always makes excuses as to why something 33:08.200 --> 33:11.400 is not getting done, as to why they're late to work, 33:11.400 --> 33:15.560 as to why they didn't get whatever their boss told them 33:15.560 --> 33:16.720 to do. 33:16.720 --> 33:18.000 And so they make excuses. 33:18.000 --> 33:19.760 They can't get the job done. 33:19.760 --> 33:22.760 And go to Ecclesiastes chapter 11. 33:22.760 --> 33:24.840 And they always have a reason why. 33:24.840 --> 33:28.080 Here we see that it says that the slothful man says 33:28.080 --> 33:29.240 there is a lion in the way. 33:29.240 --> 33:30.560 A lion is in the streets. 33:30.560 --> 33:32.920 But it's not something that we deal with. 33:32.920 --> 33:36.080 Maybe the lion today would be like the gas prices. 33:36.080 --> 33:37.320 That's the lion in the way. 33:37.320 --> 33:39.720 I can't count a word because it's so costly. 33:39.720 --> 33:43.280 But even then, there's no reason why 33:43.280 --> 33:46.040 you have to make an excuse as to why something can't get done. 33:46.040 --> 33:48.920 In Ecclesiastes chapter 11, look down at verse number 4. 33:48.920 --> 33:51.320 The Bible says, he that observeth the wind should not sow, 33:51.320 --> 33:54.120 and he that regarded the cloud should not reap. 33:54.120 --> 33:57.480 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, 33:57.480 --> 34:00.880 nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child, 34:00.880 --> 34:04.200 even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. 34:04.200 --> 34:06.160 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening 34:06.160 --> 34:08.520 withhold not thy hand, for thou knowest not 34:08.520 --> 34:10.640 whether shall prosper either this or that, 34:10.640 --> 34:12.400 or whether they shall both be alike. 34:12.400 --> 34:14.960 And so here we see sometimes people just consider, 34:14.960 --> 34:17.400 what type of day is it? 34:17.400 --> 34:18.320 It's raining. 34:18.320 --> 34:19.000 I can't go out. 34:19.000 --> 34:20.520 I can't do what I need to do. 34:20.560 --> 34:21.080 Well, you know what? 34:21.080 --> 34:22.880 We have something called a rain jacket. 34:22.880 --> 34:23.880 Just put it on. 34:23.880 --> 34:25.040 Cover your head. 34:25.040 --> 34:27.600 There's always ways to go about your day 34:27.600 --> 34:29.200 without making excuses. 34:29.200 --> 34:30.480 We see here, oh, it's too hot. 34:30.480 --> 34:31.640 I can't go out. 34:31.640 --> 34:33.600 Just wear a hat. 34:33.600 --> 34:35.320 Wear something that's fresh. 34:35.320 --> 34:36.680 Go to Proverbs chapter 3. 34:36.680 --> 34:38.320 Proverbs chapter 3. 34:38.320 --> 34:39.760 And so let us not be characterized 34:39.760 --> 34:42.200 as people that just make excuses as to why 34:42.200 --> 34:45.080 something can't get done. 34:45.080 --> 34:48.880 Proverbs chapter 3, look down at verse number 27. 34:48.920 --> 34:51.440 The Bible says, withhold not good from them 34:51.440 --> 34:54.200 to whom it is due when it is in the power 34:54.200 --> 34:55.560 of thy hand to do it. 34:55.560 --> 34:58.080 Say not unto thy brother, go, and come again, 34:58.080 --> 35:02.200 and tomorrow I will give when thou has it by thee. 35:04.760 --> 35:06.000 And so I talked about this earlier, 35:06.000 --> 35:08.880 how when it is in our power to do good unto our brethren, 35:08.880 --> 35:12.200 we should do it and not make excuses. 35:12.200 --> 35:14.600 You know, there's times where people are in need 35:14.600 --> 35:16.440 and you probably live the closest to them. 35:16.440 --> 35:18.360 You should be available, right? 35:18.400 --> 35:22.840 As Christians, as brothers, we should have that love 35:22.840 --> 35:26.560 for the brethren to esteem them, to put them before us. 35:26.560 --> 35:29.360 And I don't think anybody's really all that busy enough 35:29.360 --> 35:31.840 to just take some time out of your day. 35:31.840 --> 35:35.440 Maybe somebody is going through a situation 35:35.440 --> 35:38.160 and you have the means to help them, maybe financially, 35:38.160 --> 35:40.480 or they need a ride of their car, 35:40.480 --> 35:42.960 die on the side of the freeway, what happens? 35:42.960 --> 35:45.040 You know, that actually reminds me of Brother Mark. 35:45.040 --> 35:46.680 How many people have actually had car problems 35:46.680 --> 35:49.640 and Brother Mark is always there to help them, right? 35:49.640 --> 35:51.000 I'm sure that's inconvenient. 35:51.000 --> 35:52.280 Sometimes it's just hot. 35:52.280 --> 35:54.480 Sometimes he's in his church clothes, 35:54.480 --> 35:56.320 but he's still doing it, he's still out there. 35:56.320 --> 35:57.160 Why? 35:57.160 --> 35:58.160 Because he has the means to do it. 35:58.160 --> 36:00.360 He has the tools, he bought it for a reason, 36:00.360 --> 36:03.160 and he loves the brethren, and so he's out there. 36:03.160 --> 36:06.280 That's a perfect example of somebody that doesn't make 36:06.280 --> 36:08.040 excuses as to why they can't do it. 36:09.000 --> 36:10.800 And so go to Proverbs chapter 20. 36:10.800 --> 36:11.800 Proverbs chapter 20. 36:12.640 --> 36:16.640 Look down to verse number four, Proverbs chapter 20. 36:16.640 --> 36:18.240 The Bible says, the slugger would not plow 36:18.240 --> 36:19.920 by the reason of the cold, therefore shall he 36:19.920 --> 36:22.640 bag and harvest and have nothing. 36:22.640 --> 36:24.560 And so again, we see this correlation 36:24.560 --> 36:27.960 of just people that are lazy and not having anything 36:27.960 --> 36:29.960 later on becoming poor. 36:29.960 --> 36:31.960 And so again, the first characteristic is that 36:31.960 --> 36:34.040 they let their body tell them what to do. 36:34.040 --> 36:35.520 And I'm not gonna go through all of them again, 36:35.520 --> 36:37.960 but another characteristic that I wanna look 36:37.960 --> 36:40.080 or highlight this evening is that the body 36:40.080 --> 36:41.720 that I wanna look or highlight this evening 36:41.720 --> 36:45.080 is that the slothful person will never be in charge. 36:45.080 --> 36:47.240 The slothful person will never be in charge. 36:47.240 --> 36:49.520 And I say never because for the most part, 36:49.520 --> 36:52.160 even if a slothful person or lazy person does make it 36:52.160 --> 36:55.840 to some type of leadership, they're not gonna last. 36:55.840 --> 36:58.880 Eventually, they're gonna let things fall by the wayside. 36:58.880 --> 37:02.960 They're gonna let things be undone, 37:02.960 --> 37:04.120 and what's gonna be the result? 37:04.120 --> 37:05.480 They're gonna lose that position. 37:05.480 --> 37:08.560 But somebody that is diligent, they're gonna have 37:08.560 --> 37:09.880 some type of leadership. 37:10.720 --> 37:11.960 Somebody that is slothful, they're never gonna be in charge 37:11.960 --> 37:14.480 because people have to micromanage them. 37:14.480 --> 37:16.720 You should learn to be somebody that doesn't need 37:16.720 --> 37:19.440 somebody over them telling them what to do constantly. 37:19.440 --> 37:21.400 Your boss shouldn't always have to be behind you 37:21.400 --> 37:23.120 making sure that you're getting the job done. 37:23.120 --> 37:25.360 He should just learn to trust you, 37:25.360 --> 37:28.600 learn to delegate it to you, and then what's gonna happen? 37:28.600 --> 37:30.680 You're gonna get it done. 37:30.680 --> 37:32.200 You're not gonna make excuses. 37:32.200 --> 37:33.720 And so go to Proverbs chapter 12, 37:33.720 --> 37:37.920 Proverbs chapter 12, and so we said the slothful person 37:38.760 --> 37:41.400 will never be in charge. 37:41.400 --> 37:43.680 And in Proverbs chapter 12 verse 24, the Bible says 37:43.680 --> 37:46.600 the hand of the diligent shall bear rule, 37:46.600 --> 37:49.480 but the slothful shall be under tribute. 37:49.480 --> 37:52.840 Go to Proverbs chapter six, Proverbs chapter six. 37:54.960 --> 37:59.340 And so who's usually at the top within any job? 37:59.340 --> 38:00.880 It's somebody that's diligent. 38:00.880 --> 38:03.880 It's somebody that knows how to be organized. 38:03.880 --> 38:06.960 It's somebody that knows how to prioritize 38:07.000 --> 38:09.400 and to know how to set up the job 38:09.400 --> 38:12.960 to where it could be a success and have people under them. 38:12.960 --> 38:14.360 But somebody that is slothful, 38:14.360 --> 38:17.640 they could barely handle one task at a time. 38:17.640 --> 38:19.400 And if you're somebody that's slothful, 38:19.400 --> 38:20.600 we need to work on that. 38:20.600 --> 38:23.020 We need to be able to multitask 38:23.020 --> 38:26.160 to get more than one thing done. 38:26.160 --> 38:28.200 Whatever job you have, I'm sure there's ways 38:28.200 --> 38:29.520 to excel in that job. 38:29.520 --> 38:31.620 Whether it's a fast food place, 38:31.620 --> 38:32.880 you could always work hard enough 38:32.880 --> 38:35.040 to where you become the manager 38:35.040 --> 38:37.080 and then you become the district manager 38:37.080 --> 38:39.040 and then you just get your own franchise, 38:39.040 --> 38:41.040 your own McDonald's or whatever. 38:41.040 --> 38:43.680 Whatever job it is, there's always ways to move up. 38:43.680 --> 38:47.480 And if you say, well, at my job I already reached the top, 38:47.480 --> 38:48.920 there's nothing more that I can do, 38:48.920 --> 38:50.800 then I would just recommend just switching jobs. 38:50.800 --> 38:53.120 You never wanna get stuck at a place 38:53.120 --> 38:55.520 where you're not gonna be able to move up. 38:55.520 --> 38:58.140 A lot of people sometimes move from job to job 38:58.140 --> 39:00.080 for the wrong reasons. 39:00.080 --> 39:02.800 Their boss gets on them or reproves them, 39:03.600 --> 39:06.000 or something, or corrects them, 39:06.000 --> 39:07.360 and then they leave the job. 39:07.360 --> 39:10.080 But if you're somebody that just leaves the job 39:10.080 --> 39:12.880 and moves to another job because it's a better opportunity, 39:12.880 --> 39:14.720 I don't see anything wrong with that. 39:15.960 --> 39:18.000 So then lastly, a slothful person, 39:18.000 --> 39:19.640 and kinda tying it in to this point, 39:19.640 --> 39:22.840 is that a slothful person is not reliable. 39:22.840 --> 39:24.840 A slothful person is not reliable. 39:24.840 --> 39:27.460 And I'm thankful for the people here at this church 39:27.460 --> 39:29.100 because there's a lot of things 39:29.100 --> 39:31.940 that has to get done at church. 39:31.980 --> 39:33.460 And I'm not gonna be able to do them all, 39:33.460 --> 39:34.820 especially on a Sunday. 39:34.820 --> 39:36.560 Pastor's not gonna be able to do them all. 39:36.560 --> 39:39.040 But thankfully we have a lot of people that volunteer, 39:39.040 --> 39:41.740 that take time out of their day on a Sunday. 39:41.740 --> 39:44.460 And it's usually people that are already hard workers 39:44.460 --> 39:46.260 that we're able to delegate it to. 39:46.260 --> 39:49.820 And staying here all day on a Sunday is not an easy task, 39:49.820 --> 39:52.620 especially for people that have a lot of kids. 39:52.620 --> 39:55.280 We take it for granted and it's kinda become the norm. 39:55.280 --> 39:57.740 We're like, oh yeah, everybody stays at the church, 39:57.740 --> 40:00.200 goes to winning and then comes back, hangs out, 40:00.200 --> 40:01.620 stays for the evening service, 40:02.300 --> 40:03.620 and then hangs out again after night. 40:03.620 --> 40:05.260 That's not something that's normal. 40:05.260 --> 40:07.260 That's not something that I would see at my old church. 40:07.260 --> 40:09.740 At my old church, service is done and you're out. 40:09.740 --> 40:12.400 You go home and then you come back for the evening service. 40:12.400 --> 40:14.820 But here there's a lot of people that just stay 40:14.820 --> 40:17.820 and they work in between services. 40:17.820 --> 40:19.500 Number one, they go out soul winning. 40:19.500 --> 40:21.520 That already tells me that person's not lazy. 40:21.520 --> 40:24.320 And number two, there's things that have to get clean, 40:24.320 --> 40:25.780 things that have to get restocked, 40:25.780 --> 40:27.840 things that have to be organized before the evening service. 40:27.840 --> 40:29.940 And there are people out here that stay 40:29.980 --> 40:31.700 and nobody sees them doing it. 40:31.700 --> 40:33.140 And I'm thankful for those kind of people 40:33.140 --> 40:35.180 because they're diligent, they're hard workers. 40:35.180 --> 40:36.540 Now if you don't help at all, 40:36.540 --> 40:37.880 I'm not shaming you or anything like that, 40:37.880 --> 40:40.460 maybe you have something to do, that's fine. 40:40.460 --> 40:42.180 But you wanna be able to be somebody 40:42.180 --> 40:46.220 that if we had to ask you, we can trust you with it. 40:46.220 --> 40:48.180 And I think about it sometimes like, 40:48.180 --> 40:51.140 okay, I already know who to ask to get this job done. 40:51.140 --> 40:53.060 Or I already know who I could probably ask, 40:53.060 --> 40:54.860 I'll have three different people in my mind. 40:54.860 --> 40:55.700 Why? 40:55.700 --> 40:57.980 Because they've proven to me that they're responsible, 40:58.020 --> 41:00.420 that there's somebody that you could delegate things 41:00.420 --> 41:02.580 and not worry about it getting done or not. 41:03.620 --> 41:05.380 And like I said, the last thing is this, 41:05.380 --> 41:08.020 that a slothful person is not reliable. 41:08.020 --> 41:10.580 Now go to Proverbs chapter 10, Proverbs chapter 10. 41:12.220 --> 41:14.100 So as Christians, we should be characterized 41:14.100 --> 41:17.280 as somebody that's faithful, as somebody that's reliable, 41:17.280 --> 41:20.300 as somebody that's just there when they need to be there. 41:21.140 --> 41:24.700 Sunday mornings, and I'm gonna give some shout outs, nah. 41:24.700 --> 41:27.500 But Sunday mornings, for a long time, 41:27.500 --> 41:29.980 I would come here in the morning just to open up, 41:29.980 --> 41:33.500 turn on the ACs, make the coffee and all that stuff. 41:33.500 --> 41:35.100 Because these things have to get done. 41:35.100 --> 41:36.740 It's not like we just show up here 41:36.740 --> 41:39.420 and the lights are just on and the ACs are running. 41:39.420 --> 41:41.060 No, somebody has to do that. 41:41.060 --> 41:42.900 But for a long time, I was doing that. 41:42.900 --> 41:45.360 And then brother Gio, brother Adrian, 41:45.360 --> 41:47.140 these are people that live pretty far 41:47.140 --> 41:48.700 and they still show up pretty early. 41:48.700 --> 41:51.220 And so they started doing that, they took over them. 41:51.220 --> 41:52.620 And at the beginning, I'll be like, 41:52.620 --> 41:55.060 hey Gio, do you mind doing this, this and that? 41:55.060 --> 41:56.340 And now I don't even have to say anything 41:56.340 --> 42:00.180 because I know when I get here, everything's on. 42:00.180 --> 42:03.620 The coffee's being made, the baptism is connected. 42:03.620 --> 42:05.820 I don't do that no more because I cause fires. 42:05.820 --> 42:09.180 That's something that I proved that I was reliable in. 42:09.180 --> 42:12.240 But those are things that get delegated to other people 42:12.240 --> 42:13.840 because they're able to get it done. 42:13.840 --> 42:16.420 But all that to say, there are tasks here 42:16.420 --> 42:18.060 that we can delegate to people 42:18.060 --> 42:19.900 and we know it's gonna get done. 42:19.900 --> 42:22.180 We could come back from soul winning 42:22.180 --> 42:23.340 before the Sunday evening service 42:23.340 --> 42:24.620 and there's people cleaning up. 42:24.620 --> 42:26.140 There's people picking up the trash, 42:26.140 --> 42:28.700 picking up the hymnals, organizing the chairs. 42:28.700 --> 42:30.540 These are things that have to get done. 42:30.540 --> 42:33.500 And it's like at home, you don't just show up at home 42:33.500 --> 42:34.340 and everything's just clean. 42:34.340 --> 42:36.700 No, somebody is doing that, your wife is doing that. 42:36.700 --> 42:38.140 Hopefully it's your wife. 42:38.140 --> 42:42.260 But there's are things that sometimes we take for granted 42:42.260 --> 42:43.860 but we gotta realize that things get done 42:43.860 --> 42:46.020 because somebody is actually putting in the work 42:46.020 --> 42:47.900 and they're not being slothful. 42:47.900 --> 42:51.260 And so to wrap this up, go to Proverbs 25. 42:53.380 --> 42:55.660 I'm gonna read to you from Proverbs 10, verse 26. 42:55.980 --> 42:58.300 As vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, 42:58.300 --> 43:01.500 so is the slugger to them that sent him. 43:01.500 --> 43:05.100 And so a slugger, from what I read right now, 43:05.100 --> 43:06.620 it causes pain to the boss, 43:06.620 --> 43:09.220 just like vinegar to the teeth, how it just damages it. 43:09.220 --> 43:14.220 And a slugger person is a pain in the rear end to their boss. 43:14.460 --> 43:16.660 A slugger person, because they don't get things done, 43:16.660 --> 43:17.500 what happens? 43:17.500 --> 43:19.540 They're gonna cost their boss money. 43:19.540 --> 43:22.360 They're gonna cause their company to lose resources. 43:22.400 --> 43:25.880 They're gonna cause their boss to have to hire another person 43:25.880 --> 43:28.640 just to help you with your task. 43:28.640 --> 43:30.220 And so you don't wanna be characterized as that 43:30.220 --> 43:32.240 because a slugger, like it says, 43:32.240 --> 43:36.040 it's a smoke to the eyes to them that sent him. 43:36.040 --> 43:38.000 You wanna be somebody that's reliable. 43:38.000 --> 43:39.840 And I think I told you to go to Proverbs 25, 43:39.840 --> 43:41.480 look down at verse number 19. 43:41.480 --> 43:45.220 It says confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble 43:45.220 --> 43:48.220 is like a broken tooth and a foot at a joint. 43:49.220 --> 43:53.420 Go to Proverbs chapter 22, Proverbs chapter 22. 43:54.620 --> 43:56.820 And so lastly, the last characteristic that I wanna give 43:56.820 --> 43:58.780 is this, that a slugger person 43:58.780 --> 44:00.940 is somebody that's not reliable. 44:00.940 --> 44:02.380 And as I said in the beginning, 44:02.380 --> 44:04.260 this is something that every now and then 44:04.260 --> 44:06.100 we have to hit a reset button. 44:06.100 --> 44:08.680 Myself, I'm sure you guys could attest to this, 44:08.680 --> 44:11.180 but there are times where we just get comfortable, right? 44:11.180 --> 44:14.000 And we stop doing the things that we're supposed to be doing 44:14.000 --> 44:16.140 and we just gotta be reminded every now and then, 44:16.140 --> 44:17.840 like am I being lazy? 44:18.480 --> 44:20.240 Am I being diligent? 44:20.240 --> 44:22.400 Am I actually getting things done? 44:22.400 --> 44:24.520 And here's the thing, if you don't do it, 44:24.520 --> 44:25.440 it's still gonna be there. 44:25.440 --> 44:27.760 It's not like it's gonna go away. 44:27.760 --> 44:31.040 If a wife leaves the clothes unfolded, what's gonna happen? 44:31.040 --> 44:33.240 It's not gonna come back and it's gonna be folded, right? 44:33.240 --> 44:35.720 No, these are things that are gonna have to get done. 44:35.720 --> 44:38.440 And so every now and then we have to remind ourselves, 44:38.440 --> 44:40.000 am I being lazy? 44:40.000 --> 44:41.240 Am I slothful? 44:41.240 --> 44:43.400 And here's the thing that I always try to remind myself 44:43.400 --> 44:45.320 because I struggle in this area. 44:45.480 --> 44:49.080 I have to learn to plan ahead to be productive 44:49.080 --> 44:51.660 and not, what do you say, reactive, right? 44:51.660 --> 44:54.420 Because there are things that you could already get done 44:54.420 --> 44:57.640 and so it's like a smoother operation, right? 44:57.640 --> 45:00.840 But sometimes we forget, I'm human too, 45:00.840 --> 45:01.760 I'm sure that's happened to you, 45:01.760 --> 45:04.640 you guys forget to plan something properly 45:04.640 --> 45:05.480 and then what happens, 45:05.480 --> 45:07.400 you're there rushing to get things done, right? 45:07.400 --> 45:08.960 You're planning a vacation, 45:08.960 --> 45:11.440 you forget to pack some things, right? 45:11.440 --> 45:13.560 You don't make a list of the things that you need. 45:13.600 --> 45:15.400 And then what happens, you go on vacation 45:15.400 --> 45:16.960 and it's just a personal example 45:16.960 --> 45:17.920 and then you get to the place, 45:17.920 --> 45:20.360 you're like, oh, I forgot my belt or something, 45:20.360 --> 45:22.380 I forgot my shoes and then what happens? 45:22.380 --> 45:24.360 Now you have to be all reactive 45:24.360 --> 45:26.480 and you have to go out and look for it, right? 45:26.480 --> 45:28.440 And where you could have just planned ahead 45:28.440 --> 45:30.660 and not be lazy and done things properly, 45:30.660 --> 45:32.120 planned accordingly. 45:32.120 --> 45:34.840 And so just to give you some practical tips 45:34.840 --> 45:37.920 on how to not be lazy, how to not be slothful, 45:37.920 --> 45:40.840 what are some things that we can do to overcome it? 45:40.840 --> 45:43.440 Obviously, if we're lazy, we don't wanna remain that way. 45:44.320 --> 45:46.440 As men, we need to be hard workers. 45:46.440 --> 45:48.280 As men, we need our wives to trust us 45:48.280 --> 45:50.120 that we're gonna provide for them, right? 45:50.120 --> 45:54.400 We need our wives to know that no matter what happens, 45:54.400 --> 45:55.960 even if we were to lose our job, 45:55.960 --> 45:59.000 because we're a hard worker, we're still gonna provide. 45:59.000 --> 46:00.520 We're not gonna make excuses. 46:00.520 --> 46:03.800 You lose a job, you quit or you have to move 46:03.800 --> 46:04.880 or whatever the reason is. 46:04.880 --> 46:08.120 If you're a hard worker, you're gonna find work easily, right? 46:08.120 --> 46:09.080 You're always gonna be there. 46:09.080 --> 46:10.600 You gotta give them that confidence 46:10.600 --> 46:13.400 that no matter what happens, you're gonna provide for them. 46:14.400 --> 46:17.400 As a wife, you gotta give your husband that peace of mind 46:17.400 --> 46:21.200 knowing that they're gonna come home to a home-cooked meal. 46:21.200 --> 46:23.160 They're gonna come home to a clean house. 46:23.160 --> 46:25.160 No husband wants to come home, 46:25.160 --> 46:27.840 well, stressed from work, tired and all that, 46:27.840 --> 46:30.200 and then have to do other things at home, right? 46:30.200 --> 46:33.720 People wanna come home, rest, just eat. 46:33.720 --> 46:36.760 And these are things that require effort on both parts. 46:38.120 --> 46:40.280 And so things that you can do to, 46:40.280 --> 46:42.400 practical things that you can do to stop being lazy, 46:43.320 --> 46:45.160 this is a big distraction, right? 46:45.160 --> 46:48.160 And if we're honest, sometimes things are not getting done 46:48.160 --> 46:50.200 because we're just on our phone, right? 46:50.200 --> 46:53.440 And especially now, the day and age that we live in, 46:53.440 --> 46:55.920 I'm not even gonna show you how long I'm on Instagram, 46:55.920 --> 46:58.680 but this could tell you how long your activity is 46:59.560 --> 47:01.640 on social media or anything like this. 47:01.640 --> 47:04.560 But this is something that's practical. 47:04.560 --> 47:05.720 You could minimize distractions. 47:05.720 --> 47:08.240 Maybe it's the phone, maybe it's the TV, 47:08.240 --> 47:11.560 maybe it's the radio or whatever, the YouTube. 47:11.600 --> 47:13.400 There are things that you need to turn off 47:13.400 --> 47:15.800 in order so that you can get things done. 47:15.800 --> 47:18.160 Another thing would be, and I don't know what they call this, 47:18.160 --> 47:20.040 but it's just like setting a timer. 47:20.040 --> 47:21.600 And sometimes I do this mentally, 47:21.600 --> 47:22.800 like I look at the clock and I'm like, 47:22.800 --> 47:24.640 all right, I'm gonna try to get this done by this time. 47:24.640 --> 47:26.000 And that actually helps you, 47:26.000 --> 47:28.880 because you move faster, you try to time yourself, 47:28.880 --> 47:30.840 you try to see like, okay, I got like 10 more minutes, 47:30.840 --> 47:32.520 and you're more effective that way. 47:32.520 --> 47:34.760 Whereas like you, like I got all day, 47:34.760 --> 47:36.360 you're not gonna move fast. 47:36.360 --> 47:38.720 You're gonna leave it to whatever 47:38.720 --> 47:40.120 and it's not gonna get done. 47:40.120 --> 47:41.880 So practical tips is just like, 47:41.880 --> 47:44.880 set a timer if you have to, or just look at the clock. 47:44.880 --> 47:46.400 I have this much things to do, 47:46.400 --> 47:48.840 I'm gonna dedicate two hours to doing it. 47:48.840 --> 47:51.280 And if you do that, you'll find yourself 47:51.280 --> 47:53.960 that you're gonna accomplish more things throughout the day. 47:53.960 --> 47:56.120 And so another thing too that you could do 47:56.120 --> 47:58.240 is just prioritize and organize. 47:58.240 --> 48:01.960 And realize that not everything has to get done today. 48:01.960 --> 48:04.480 There are things that are more important than other things. 48:04.480 --> 48:06.720 There are things that have a higher priority. 48:06.720 --> 48:08.160 There are things that are low priority 48:08.200 --> 48:10.920 that if you never do them, nothing's gonna happen. 48:10.920 --> 48:12.120 It's not the end of the world. 48:12.120 --> 48:14.040 But if you have that reverse, 48:14.040 --> 48:15.800 if you just try to get everything done, 48:15.800 --> 48:17.800 then you leave the important things undone. 48:17.800 --> 48:20.080 And that's when problems begin to arise. 48:20.080 --> 48:21.800 And I'll go to Proverbs chapter 22, 48:21.800 --> 48:23.080 here's the last verse. 48:23.080 --> 48:25.680 The Bible says in Proverbs 22, verse 29, 48:25.680 --> 48:27.920 see as thou a man diligent in his business, 48:27.920 --> 48:29.680 he shall stand before kings, 48:29.680 --> 48:31.920 he shall not stand before mean men. 48:31.920 --> 48:34.960 And so here we see that a person as diligent, 48:34.960 --> 48:36.880 they're not gonna be among average people. 48:36.880 --> 48:38.760 They're gonna be somebody that's in charge. 48:38.760 --> 48:42.040 And we can think about people in the Bible like Joseph, 48:42.040 --> 48:44.160 how no matter what circumstances he went through, 48:44.160 --> 48:46.360 he always ended up on top, right? 48:46.360 --> 48:48.200 He always thrived. 48:48.200 --> 48:49.960 Even when he got sold into slavery, 48:49.960 --> 48:51.960 even when he got sent into prison, 48:51.960 --> 48:53.400 he always came out on top. 48:53.400 --> 48:55.240 And this is something because he was diligent. 48:55.240 --> 48:57.000 He was a hard worker. 48:57.000 --> 48:59.320 And so we don't wanna be average Christians. 48:59.320 --> 49:01.040 We wanna be 10 times better. 49:01.040 --> 49:03.880 We wanna be people of a good reputation. 49:03.880 --> 49:05.280 We wanna be people that, you know, 49:05.280 --> 49:06.600 if somebody looks at us, they could say, 49:06.880 --> 49:08.960 I know this person is a hard worker, right? 49:08.960 --> 49:10.720 They're not walking like the sloth. 49:10.720 --> 49:12.160 They're not walking all slow. 49:12.160 --> 49:14.520 No, we don't wanna walk like J-Dub's out sewing, right? 49:14.520 --> 49:17.520 We wanna be people that walk with purpose. 49:17.520 --> 49:19.040 And you know, we should take offense, you know, 49:19.040 --> 49:20.200 when we knock on the door and they're like, 49:20.200 --> 49:22.840 you guys J-Dub's like, no, right? 49:22.840 --> 49:25.000 Because we don't look anything like J-Dub's, right? 49:25.000 --> 49:26.920 J-Dub's, if you see them walking out, 49:26.920 --> 49:28.640 they're just walking like that slug. 49:28.640 --> 49:30.640 They're walking like that sloth, right? 49:30.640 --> 49:33.400 By the time they get from across the street 49:33.400 --> 49:34.280 to where they need to be, 49:34.280 --> 49:36.120 we already knocked all the doors, you know? 49:36.120 --> 49:37.200 We gotta cover. 49:37.200 --> 49:39.720 So you don't wanna be somebody that's, you know, 49:39.720 --> 49:42.240 characterized as somebody that's just slothful. 49:42.240 --> 49:43.760 And then like I said lastly is this, 49:43.760 --> 49:45.200 that every now and then, 49:45.200 --> 49:47.160 just, and I think I said this in the morning, 49:47.160 --> 49:49.200 you know, just do some introspection, you know? 49:49.200 --> 49:50.440 See, where am I at today? 49:50.440 --> 49:51.680 Am I being lazy? 49:51.680 --> 49:54.120 You know, am I being diligent? 49:54.120 --> 49:55.920 And if you are being lazy, you know, 49:55.920 --> 49:57.560 this is something that you have to fix. 49:57.560 --> 50:00.400 Obviously, like I said, being lazy is a sin. 50:00.400 --> 50:01.960 And to him that know how to do good 50:01.960 --> 50:03.360 and do with the night, it is sin. 50:03.360 --> 50:05.920 So if you know that you should be doing things 50:05.920 --> 50:07.400 and you're not doing them, you know, 50:07.400 --> 50:08.320 how does God see that? 50:08.320 --> 50:11.160 He used that as you not obeying, right? 50:11.160 --> 50:12.480 And so what's the sermon tonight? 50:12.480 --> 50:13.560 Don't be lazy. 50:13.560 --> 50:14.560 Don't be slothful. 50:14.560 --> 50:15.640 Don't be a slugger. 50:15.640 --> 50:16.760 Get to work, all right? 50:16.760 --> 50:17.600 Let's pray. 50:17.600 --> 50:18.560 Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for this day. 50:18.560 --> 50:21.320 Thank you for giving me the opportunity 50:21.320 --> 50:22.600 to preach this evening. 50:22.600 --> 50:24.000 I pray Lord for Pastor Mejia 50:24.000 --> 50:26.080 and wherever he's at at the moment, 50:26.080 --> 50:27.680 whether he's preaching or just fellowshipping, 50:27.680 --> 50:29.040 I pray that you be with him 50:29.040 --> 50:30.640 and that you would protect him, Lord. 50:30.640 --> 50:32.640 I pray that you would bring him back safely. 50:32.640 --> 50:35.240 And I pray for every individual here tonight 50:35.280 --> 50:37.280 that you would help us, Lord, to be hard workers, 50:37.280 --> 50:39.160 to be diligent Christians, Lord, 50:39.160 --> 50:41.880 and not be characterized as being slothful. 50:41.880 --> 50:44.440 Help us to get things done that we ought to be doing 50:44.440 --> 50:46.320 and help us to be diligent, Lord, 50:46.320 --> 50:47.760 when it comes to our parenting. 50:47.760 --> 50:50.680 Help us to be diligent when it comes to our finances 50:50.680 --> 50:52.040 and help us to be diligent, Lord, 50:52.040 --> 50:54.480 when it comes to our biblical role as a husband, 50:54.480 --> 50:56.000 as a wife, and as a child. 50:56.000 --> 50:57.680 Lord, please help us in every area of life. 50:57.680 --> 50:59.680 And I praise in Jesus' first name, amen. 51:00.520 --> 51:01.360 Let's go. 51:05.480 --> 51:08.120 Song number 301 as our last song, 51:08.120 --> 51:10.000 Sweet Hour of Prayer. 51:10.000 --> 51:12.040 Song number 301.