The sluggard’s craving will
be the death of him,
because his hands refuse to work.All day long he craves for
more,but the righteous give without sparing.Proverbs 21:25-26
When I wanted to be a famous
singer/songwriter all I did was crave the future. I read all about
how to get shows, how to record, how to perform.
And yet I didn’t practice. I didn’t
beat the streets for shows. I wussed out of open mics. My hands
refused to work, but my imagination kept going and going. Now, when
I think of that year, it’s largely filled with regret, missed
opportunity and trying to do something I wasn’t really made for.
It was a year of laziness, a year of
fear of the unknown, a year of silly fantasies. I am glad that year
is over.
I realized lately that this is a year
of sowing for me in terms of my writing “career.” Yes, it’s
true, I’d like to be a writer. You know that already, hopefully, from
my post about Literary Joe’s timely demise. But even now I sometimes refuse the work because I don’t “feel” like it. Proverbs says, “Go to
the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no
commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in
summer and gathers its food at harvest.”
I am writing a lot, even though I haven’t been blogging enough. This is a time of storing up memories
and experiences that I will use in my writing for the rest of my
life. This is a time of planting seeds of experiences deep into the
soil of my writing archives so that one day they will sprout into
something good and beautiful and filling, but as such, right now they
are incomplete and undisciplined. Not suitable to be read yet.
I love how the proverb above puts work
into perspective, “The righteous give without sparing.” The
righteous’ hands do not refuse to work, and so they know they will
always have enough not only for themselves but enough to give away
generously too. The fruit of hard work is generosity.
That’s very beautiful. A sign of the kingdom of God. A
good thing to crave.
Questions for you to consider:
What do you crave?
Do your hands refuse to work? Why?
Do you give without sparing?
