What is it
that leads to all other sins?
IDLENESS
"I
walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one lacking sense. I saw
that it was overgrown with thorns. It was covered with weeds, and its walls
were broken down. Then, as I looked and thought about it, I learned this
lesson: A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the
hands to rest—and poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will
attack you like an armed robber." Proverbs 24:30-34. This, too, is fine
painting—the late riser, the lover of sleep, the drowsy drone, lifting up his
half-opened lids weighed down with sleep, grumbling at the person who has
disturbed him, turning away from him on his bed; and settling himself down
again to slumber. And then the broken fence left without repair, the thorns and
nettles covering the field and choking the vineyard. How true to life.
"Only fools idle away their time." Proverbs 12:11. "And we urge
you, brothers, warn those who are idle." 1 Thes. 5:14
Idleness
is a complicated vice. Yes, I say VICE!
First it
is a most wasteful vice. It wastes time, which is more
precious than rubies; it wastes a man's mental faculties; it wastes property.
Idleness
is a disgraceful vice. How reproachful is it in a being
made to be active, to spend life in doing nothing, and to throw away his mental
powers in sloth.
Idleness
is a criminal vice. God has commanded us to be
active, and will call us to account for the sin of killing time.
Idleness
is a dangerous vice. Doing nothing is next to doing
evil, and is sure to lead to it. From its very inaction it ultimately becomes
the active cause of all evil. "The Devil tempts all men; but the idle man
tempts the Devil."
Idleness
is a wretched vice. An idle man is the most
miserable of all God's creatures. Woe be to the man who is doomed to bear the
pain and penalties of a slothful disposition.
