Sunday, June 23, 2013

What The Bible Says About Sleeping In And Poverty

We want to sleep in and have days off, after all the media keeps telling us to take a break in one way or another. Is it a good thing to enjoy a lot of "me time?" Is there anything wrong in wanting a life of ease? Does the Bible say something about it?

"Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare." Proverbs 20:13. 

LOVE SLEEP
To love something is...
     * To think about it all the time,
     * It is your constant goal,
     * You can't wait for it,
     * You linger in its presence.
You may not actually spend days in bed but you are always wishing to be there it is the same- you love sleep.

THE METAPHOR
This metaphor is instructive. When you sleep your eyes are closed and you fail to see, you are doing nothing productive. So the metaphor suggests you do not see opportunities, you miss good use of your time, a chance to invest or work productively is missed.

GROW
To grow is normally a slow subtle process it is hard to observe from moment to moment. As time passes our poverty goes deeper and deeper, it doesn't happen overnight, or all of a sudden. Just as wealth grows slowly with investments so poverty slowly deepens with negligence.

STAY AWAKE
A wakeful person is alert. They know what is going on in their environment. A wakeful person is on guard and sees a chance to work overtime, a temp job, or an extra day.

This wakeful person is not tempted by amusements*, but is careful about recreation.

FOOD TO SPARE
A primary essential of life is food, and the one who does not love sleep not only has his need met he has extra to give away.

To have extra to share seems to be one of God's reasons for blessing us, it is not so we can hoard it but to spare it and give.

Days off and an occasional sleep in are OK as a reward for hard work  but when they become the normal habit of a lifestyle it leads to slow disaster.

* The word amusement comes from the French and means "To think not."

(c) Adron