My dear readers,

Do You Work Hard?

Proverbs 12:27: “The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.”

Singaporeans are known for their hard work because of their many hours outside their homes and workplaces. Such a hardworking attitude is expected because of the high cost of living and the numerous mortgages to be paid. In addition, there are credit card debts. The “ok to be in debt” mentality seems to have become the standard way of thinking in Singapore and many first-world countries. Adopting the stocks-and-shares mentality of putting one’s eggs in a basket for the future, hoping (or rather guessing) it will grow exponentially, is how many people live. Many wealthy people’s wealth is measured by the size of the stocks and shares of their companies. The “want to get rich” mentality drives people worldwide to work hard and not be left behind and starve. The fear of starvation is the fuel that propels men, women and sometimes even children to work hard and not FAIL! Despite all these unending pressures to succeed, instead of making ends meet, there are still lazy people trying their best to cut corners by working less and making more.

But what is hard work to God’s children?

Are Christians fuelled by fear to work hard like the unbelieving world as they wake up every day? They definitely should not. If fear fuels a Christian to work hard, it reflects his lack of faith and trust in God to provide. But the person who does not know God because he refuses to receive Christ into his heart to cleanse away his sins will take the fear of man and death as motivations for hard work. What else is there other than to live a life of eating, drinking and merry-making, for tomorrow he dies? This is all he knows! However, is not the child of God better, for he has God almighty as his heavenly Father? How can he be lazy when he has God on his side, helping and providing for him? He has to be as diligent and hard-working as possible.

Yet, sadly, there are lazy Christians (they call themselves Christians).

Proverbs 12:27 defines laziness versus diligence.

“The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting.” This is the lazy person. The hard and patient work of a hunter is undeniable. He leaves home to hunt for an unknown amount of time until he succeeds. The hunter in biblical times did not hunt for fun. He hunted for food as his family’s lives depended on him. One of the ways of hunting is to set traps, which is laborious work. He would study the manner of life of his prey, like where they would go for food and drink, and thus what the best time of the day is to catch them. It requires much patience. Finally, he would wait for the prey to come after setting the traps. If he hunts using bows and arrows, he would need to practise to be proficient to hit his prey from a distance.

He would learn to hide and creep silently through the woods or jungle. He ensures that the wind is blowing in the right direction so that his prey would not smell him as he approaches it. He would camouflage himself to blend with the terrain. He would not shower so that he smells like the environment around him as much as possible to deceive the prey into thinking there is no danger near it. On top of all these, he has to consider the cold weather during winter, the heat of summer, and the rain throughout the year. Night and day, he endures alone. Once the prey appears after days or weeks of hunting, he can finally capture or kill it.

The last and most important task after the hard, patient work is to skin and prepare the animal for food for his family, which is why he labours so hard as a hunter. The hunter cannot afford to delay once he captured his prey. The whole animal has to be roasted; or preserved in salt if he does not want to roast it at once. Failure to do either will result in rigour mortis. Once rigour mortis sets in, the flesh will decay and become inedible.

The slothful hunter will procrastinate. Once the window of opportunity passes, the animal will rot, and all his time, sacrifices and patient hard work will go to waste. He fails himself and his family, and they will starve. It will not bear the result he initially aimed for.

On the other hand, a diligent person understands that “the substance of a diligent man is precious.” He will not waste his effort and sacrifice of time and energy and separation from his family. When he catches or kills his prey, he carries it home, or cleans the animal and takes it home, for preparation and roasting. The animal is indeed precious to him because of the much time and effort to hunt it, but it is not the true treasure. His life as a hunter to provide for his family is precious to him because his family is precious to him. He works hard because loved ones depend on his diligence. He lives for others more than himself. He thinks of his loved ones as he endures all the trials and hardships that come with the life of a hunter. Their survival depends on his diligence. He does not mind working very hard because they are precious to him.

How much more in the spiritual realm!

When a professing Christian is slothful, the result has eternal consequences. Souls of men, women and children may be condemned to hell because of his slothfulness. Slothful parents do the most significant harm. There is only a small window where parents can impact their children’s lives a hundred per cent. As they grow older, the impact decreases until it becomes almost negligible. By then, whatever parents instilled in their children will be seen by how they face the world on their own. If they are carnal and become lovers of the world, the parents have failed them and God, who entrusted His heritage (the children) to their care and to bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. All the hard work the parents put in throughout their lives – how they prayed for a life partner, and after marriage, how they prayed to have children – has failed. They failed like the hunter who failed to “roast that which he has hunted.”

For the professing believer who is not married, he works hard toward his own maturity and to join a church to be a blessing to others. He endured all of life’s struggles and became a member of God’s church, but he neither served nor shared his life with fellow members, and then time ran out. The best opportunity has passed.

 The diligent child of God understands the preciousness of his life, and that the people in his life are all God sent. The opportunity for God to impact them is limited and precious. He strives for maturity after much time and labour. He must impact them for good for his Saviour by a life of holiness and righteousness. He serves cheerfully, knowing that the day will come soon when he can no longer serve his Master. The preciousness of being able to impact others unto eternity and for God’s glory keeps him diligent all his life.

Are you a diligent worker?