Mensa Otabil - The Lazy Person (10/04/2025)
Yesterday, we talked about the diligent person. Today, we are looking at the opposite of the diligent person, which is the person that the book of Proverbs normally calls the lazy person. The lazy person, Proverbs chapter 26, verse 15 and 16 states: «The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.» I just like the constructions in the book of Proverbs; there is some humor there when you read them.
So, the lazy person is someone who is slow and idle, and in the book of Proverbs, the lazy man is sometimes called a fool. It’s not a pleasant way to be described, but if you’re lazy, that’s how you’re called-a fool. There are people who like to take the easy way out. A few things are mentioned about the lazy man. The phrase «the lazy man buries his hand in the bowl» likens him to a person sitting at a table eating food. The food has been prepared and is set before him. He puts his hand into the bowl to pick up something to eat, but his hand stays stuck and doesn’t come up.
So, what does that mean? The lazy man is a person who is given an opportunity, and although he gets involved in the opportunity, he stays and doesn’t do anything. There are people like that. You plan for them, you work for them, you do an application for them, you fix a meal for them-all they have to do is eat it. But for some reason, they put their hands in there but lack the commitment to work and bring back what they have started the process with.
So, the lazy man is that person you give an assignment to. They stay where they are; their hand is buried in the bowl. One week later, their hand is still buried in the bowl. Every year, they give you the same excuse, the same report-no progress made, nothing forward, and the hand is buried in the bowl. If you are that person who keeps giving the same excuse every year, let me say your description is being played out in the Scriptures.
The second thing about the lazy man is that it wearies him to bring his hand to his mouth. The whole process of taking what he has touched and bringing it out and working it out wears him out. The lazy man represents those who don’t follow through on a project; they don’t follow through on an assignment. They tell you, «I’m going to do this,» but their hand is buried, and they don’t put in the effort and work needed to translate an opportunity into a reality. You give them an opportunity, and they’re stuck.
The third thing the passage says about the lazy man is that he is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. In other words, you can’t even reason with him-he makes up his mind, he makes up his excuses, and he feels right in his own eyes. He debates, although he’s not making sense, and he holds his own against sensible people. So, the tragedy of a lazy person is that you can’t even convince him that he is wrong. It is only when a person is convinced he’s wrong that he can change, turn around, or repent. But if a person thinks their way is right while all logic shows that their way is wrong, but they never see it, they can never change. That is why, year after year, decade after decade, they are still where they are-hands buried in the bowl and never taking advantage of the opportunities that are created for them.
Unfortunately, sometimes they blame everybody else for their failure and not themselves because the lazy man cannot be reasoned with. Now, there are individuals, unfortunately, that are like the lazy man. Sometimes it’s in a group; a family can have this attribute where everybody just has this approach to life. Sometimes you can see it in a company or in a nation; sometimes you can see it in a community among a group of people who never take advantage of all the great opportunities that are worked out for them. I know none of you is like that. I’m persuaded that you’re not like that. But in case you are like that, I hope this will help you to turn around and be a diligent person.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, deliver me from all forms of laziness. Help me to never shy away from work that needs to be done. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.» Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.