Proverbs 24 NIV
30 ~ I went past the field of a sluggard,
past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
31~ thorns had come up everywhere,
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 ~ I applied my heart to what I observed
and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 ~ A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
34 ~ and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
There is something seductive about summer. Wherever your summer occurs, for most, it is the time to relax and recover from what has been a very busy work season. Whether it’s job or schooling, summer promises escape from the routines of life. However, our proverbs today remind us of the dangers of ‘a little sleep’, a ‘little slumber’, ‘a little folding of the hands to rest’.
As this proverb is true naturally it also carries many spiritual implications. Our spiritual disciplines are the very things that tend our lives. They are the true foods that feed and water, giving true rest and refreshment. Without attending to them, poverty and scarcity do come. Believing that one day won’t hurt can turn into a week of snacking on all the wrong things and you begin a deficit in your spirit. Your appetites begin to change.
The Apostle Paul spoke about the disciplines he exercised in his life so that he would not be a castaway. Spiritual dullness is something we all must guard ourselves against; especially in these last days that hold the last hour. Jesus warns about last day’s loveless, deceived believers.
Deception is the greatest wile of the darkness. Where we lay aside our disciplines, we lay aside our armour. This helmet of salvation that shields our mind, this breastplate of righteousness may not be put on as we allow ourselves to entertain the ‘not too bads’ of the world. The sword of the Sprit, which is the word of God, ceases to be the tool that divides reason and right. Our feet begin to carry a message other than the gospel. These are realities that we must guard against. Attendance to the word, spirit and presence must always hold the priority in our day.
Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus - awake sleeper! Be the light you are created to be. Don’t allow the lazy hazy days of summer lull you into dullness of heart, mind and body. Jesus’ message to the church in Sardis from the book of Revelation is a strong rebuke to how easy it is to fall into an appearance of spirituality. A reputation for being alive does not necessarily mean we are alive.
These days, dullness cannot be afforded by any believer who desires to endure to the end. The pressures of darkness grow greater and stronger and the light God desires to increase within us individually, and thus corporately, as His body, can only come as our lives stay vitally united to the one, who is our life.
We have only one great commandment (Matthew 22:37) that demands all of us, being all in, at all times.
We can not allow ourselves to cast off what gives us life for any reason in any season.
Beware the lull that pulls into dullness.
I’ve said before my husband, David, has some great insights and I’ve added his below because they highlight my word today!
“Reading again, from 1Thess. 3 about love ‘increasing and abounding’ reminds me that quantity and quality of love is never static. If love can increase and abound, and it can, then it can decrease and diminish, and it does.
The memory of having loved is not love itself any more than a Stop sign is a stop. It’s just a sign, a mark, of something that once happened here.
Memories can be good things, but if a relationship is not on-going and nurtured, it dies leaving only memories in it’s wake. Memories can be good reminders, even encouragement to move ahead, but they are not love itself. They can also be tomb stones, ‘here lies, what (who) I once loved.’
As Paul prayed, I too pray, that your love will grow, and as that chapter further says, God himself will make you to increase and abound in love. This is not a ‘try harder’ and ‘work more’ thought. It’s a reminder that the author of love is always working to purify and stretch your heart and soul into a more perfect grasp of Him and what love truly is.”