There are about 14 different passages on the sluggard/slothful man in Proverbs.
Most of these descriptions reveal what the sluggard does or doesn’t do, such as:
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“The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing” – Proverbs 20:4
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“The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. All day long he craves and craves but the righteous gives and does not hold back” – Proverbs 21:25-26
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“As a door turns on its hinges so does the sluggard on his bed” – Proverbs 26:14
But two of the sluggard’s descriptions reveal what he says:
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“The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!’ “ – Proverbs 22:13
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“The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!’ “ – Proverbs 26:13-16
The sluggard is proficient at one thing, and that’s inventing reasons to not work. He’s making excuses.
And what’s at the root of his excuse?
Fear.
Like an imaginary lion, excuses utilize fear as their mechanism to stop good work.
With fitness, there’s a list a mile long of excuses for not stewarding our bodies. And each time I’ve made an excuse, fear was hiding in it like a lion right under my bed.
Here are some examples:
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“I don’t have time/money/resource/etc…” ➡️ “what if I can’t commit/follow through on this and time/money/resources are wasted?”
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“This won’t work for me” ➡️ “what if I can never change?”
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“It’s too hard/I’m not motivated to do this” ➡️ “what if I put myself out there and then fail?”
Here are three ways to deal with the lying lion of fear.
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Rest in God’s promises
God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), but instead one of power, love, and self-control. As Christians, that’s a precious promise we can lean on in the face of any fear.
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Expose the fakery of fear
The lion is imaginary. There are a lot of people walking around outside just fine. Fear has a way of blinding reality and hiding the incredible outcome that could be won.
So here are 3 questions you can ask yourself if you find your mind blanketed by fear:
- If I do [fitness task], what is the worst case scenario?
- If I do [fitness task], what is the best case scenario?
- Now, what will realistically happen?
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Go outside
Jump on in. Come on outside. Don’t wait, don’t delay, and don’t let those lying lions stop good work.
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