Did you know that the Bible has more to say on laziness than drunkenness? Yet, how often are we quick to judge someone when they’ve had a bit too much to drink, but neglect to chastise another person who sits around all day and does nothing? Laziness is a pervasive, insidious disease in our society, one that seems to be growing in leaps and bounds. No one seems to want to work hard anymore. They want the easy life, the easy job that doesn’t require much of them, the cushy couch and big screen TV and fancy vacations, but work?? Don’t make me work too hard!! It’s not fair! We need to remember the wisdom given to us by Solomon.The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
Proverb 13:4 (NKJV)I’m reminded of the story out of Florida some years back, where those excursions would take tourists out to the ocean to see the dolphins. It was great to see God’s animals frolicking in the water, the tourists would even feed the dolphins tuna and sardines when the friendly mammals came to the boats. However, the government forced the excursions to stop allowing the tourists to feed the dolphins, because the dolphins got lazy and stopped hunting for food. They even began teaching their offspring how to wait for boatloads of tourists bearing buckets of chum instead of how to hunt for wild fish in the ocean. The dolphins were getting lazier and lazier with every generation and forgot how to work for their food. Sound familiar? Interesting how the government noticed that free handouts without any requirements of work can devastate generations of dolphins, but not notice the destruction it does to human societies.

This is what happened in 1623 when William Bradford, the Governor  of the Plymouth Colony, wrote in his memoirs, “Of Plymouth Plantation.” Bradford was a wise man who noticed that the results of forcing settlers into a communal system was destructive to the colony. He noted that when land and crops were shared equally, it caused widespread discontent. The colony was suffering from food as many, especially the younger men, had become they expected others to work, while they became lazy, which led to food shortages that wrecked havoc on the early settlement. This is why Bradford wrote in 1623, that he decided to abandon  the collective arrangement which today we recognize as Socialism/Communism. So he assigned private land plots to each family, which greatly increased productivity and food supplies. By installing Capitalism, an economic resurgence began that saved the colony.  

Men never learn from the past, and today after 60 years, we are seeing the results of our government moving into an economic system that rewards laziness. In order to keep in power, politicians continually use the concept of redistribution to supply everything a citizen needs to survive from cradle to grave. As time went on the whole segments of our society has gotten lazier and lazier from generation to generation. Like the men of Plymouth Colony decided, so too are men doing today. Why should you work if you can just walk up to the trough and eat as you will without ever breaking a sweat? 

The number of citizens in the United States receiving some sort of assistance from the government today is over 170 million, or 50% of the population. Do some of these people need help to survive at times? Absolutely. I’m not against food stamps. I know their are those who truly need help, but we need to remember the wisdom offered by the Scriptures, and top allowing the lazy to be grouped with those truly in need. Like it was in 1623, those feeding off others’ sweat is killing the society we live in as a whole. Laziness is the biggest problem in America, not poverty.

The Bible tells us that if you wont work you should not eat. Was Paul referring to those truly in need? NO! He was writing about those able to work, who refused to work and instead they leaned on others for their sustenance. I guess what I’m trying to say is that humans are inherently lazy and when you offer them free stuff to survive, they become just as lazy as the dolphins off Florida became, and the Bears in Yellowstone Park who also became lazy from being fed by tourists. Humans and animals alike will become lazy and count on others to care for them if they are not forced to learn to work for their survival.

God warns us of the consequences of being lazy, it’s right there in the Scriptures. God bless you all, and have a great day.

Chuck Ness