Strongs Concordance: SLOTHFUL - 6101. 'atsal, aw-tsal'; a prim. root; to lean idly, i.e. to be indolent [lazy] or slack:--be slothful.

Prov 6:6:  "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: 7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. 9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man."

One of the greatest enemies and hindrances to our faith, our family and our careers is slothfulness.

This is something you don't hear a lot about and it is rarely preached. Yet this is one area in which everyone, including Christians fail daily. How many times have we returned home from work, and after a full meal, drop on the couch in front of the TV, and stayed that way until we go to bed?

"There's nothing wrong with that", you say. "I deserve it! I spent a long hard day at work and this is the way I relax."

Certainly we deserve a few minutes to relax. To unwind from the pressures of the day. But these are also the same people who ask, "Why don't I receive answers to my prayers?" "Why is it that when I get sick, the Lord never sees fit to heal me?" "Why am I always broke, just scrapping by from week-to-week just barely making my bills?"

The Word has some pretty strong things to say about slothfulness:

1 Tim 5:8: "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."

Prov 15:19: "The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain."

Rom 12:11: "[Be] Not slothful in business; [but be] fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;"

Heb 6:12: "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

Pretty strong language, wouldn't you agree?

The fact of the matter is, laziness is killing us. It's killing us spiritually, it's killing us mentally and it's killing us physically. I challenge you to keep a journal for two week. Log every thing you do and the time it takes you to do it. You'll be amazed at all the wasted, idle time that consumes precious minutes and hours every day. That minutes and hours you will never get back. They are gone forever.

How are you spending your time? Are you wasting it in front of the TV night after night? What value will you gain from your current activities? Everything you do, ask yourself, "Will this activity gain any lasting benefit for me, my family, my career or my relationship with God?" "What benefit can I gain from this activity? Will it make me a better person? Will it improve the lives of others because I'm engaged in it?"

Why not turn off the TV? At the very least, plan in advance one program that you will sit down and watch with you family. Aside from that one program, I challenge you to spend time in the Word. Read books about men and women of Faith. Get on the Internet and listen to good, Bible-based teaching that is freely available from almost any ministry. Improve your knowledge of the Word of God. Take an area like healing for example, and search out every scripture in the Word of God that relates to healing. Take one area of interest to you, and search the Scriptures until you learn all you can about that particular area.

The time is growing short. The Lord's return is upon us. Are we going to be caught napping in front of the TV, or with our heads buried deep into the Word of God?

Eph 5:13: "But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."