Proverbs 10:26 Lazy Employees

Today, we are going to look at what God says about lazy employees, and how their employers feel about them.

Proverbs 10:26 (NKJV)

26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
So is the lazy man to those who send him.

According to my research, acids, such as vinegar, eat away at the enamel of teeth. This erodes the enamel and can cause sensitivity in teeth as well as cavities. Both of these situations can be very painful as most everyone knows. This pain can be either a nagging, throbbing type of pain, or it can be a sharp, stabbing type of pain.

Wood smoke has been proven to depress the immune system and can also damage the cells that protect the linings of the lungs. It can cause coughs, headaches, eye irritation, and irritate the throat. It is especially dangerous for children and anyone with asthma. Anyone that has been around a campfire knows that you want to stay upwind, and away from the smoke.

This verse says that these are the ways that an employer… “those who send him,” feels about an employee that is lazy. They are irritants of the first magnitude!

Proverbs 10: 4 & 5

Both verses 4 & 5 contrast laziness and diligence. Here are our verses:

Proverbs 10: 4 & 5 (NKJV)

4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor,

But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

5 He who gathers in summer is a wise son;

He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.

The online dictionary defines “slack” as: Verb 1. to neglect one's duty or work in a lazy manner and some synonyms are: idleness; carelessness; inefficiency; sloth.

This website also defines “diligent” as the exact opposite: Adjective 1. careful and persevering in carrying out tasks or duties 2. quietly and steadily persevering especially in detail or exactness

With these definitions, we can see that someone who is idle, careless and/or inefficient, and that neglects their work by doing it in a lazy manner WILL become poor for they will lose their jobs very quickly. The workers who are very careful to take care of all the details in their tasks or duties would quickly become valuable to their boss, and be promoted.

Verse 5 speaks of those who “gather” in the season for gathering in a harvest (summer). When they do the work, when it needs to be done, then they are being wise, while those that are lazy and don’t take advantage of the “window” when the harvest is ready, will end up with little or nothing to show and this will bring shame to them.

Proverbs 6: 6 - 11 (NIV)

Today we will cover the next 6 verses in this sixth chapter of Proverbs. They speak to people about being constructive and active in their lives. The writer uses the ant and a “sluggard” or “vagrant” as examples to get his point across to the readers. Here are today’s verses:

Proverbs 6: 6 - 11
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest-
11 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.
[Footnote: Or like a vagrant / and scarcity like a beggar]

The online dictionary defines the word “sluggard” as: A slothful person; an idler, a very lazy person. The reader is urged to look at the way the ant lives. It doesn’t have any kind of leader or ruler over it to tell it what to do, yet it is constantly working during the seasons that it can, to store things for provisions for later. It shows wisdom in this way.

These verses warn people not to be slothful and lazy, but to work when the opportunity presents itself so that provisions are made for themselves and their families to live. It goes on to say, in verse 11, that if you are lazy and sleep your life away, so to speak, then suddenly (come on you like a bandit) you will find yourself living in poverty. The footnote says that in the original language, the words used here mean “scarcity like a beggar.”

This is speaking to people who are lazy, not those that are trying to do the best they can to take care of things and are having a hard time of it. If we are trying to follow Christ in all we do, then He will open the doors to us to do the jobs that we need in His perfect timing. We do need to keep our eyes and ears open, be trying, and not just laying back and expecting God to do everything for us. If we are working hard at what we have been given to do, then more and more opportunities will be given to us, in His time.