It is no secret to us that the god of this age, Satan the devil, has been very active, causing havoc all over the world, as he has been doing, in principle, since the beginning of mankind. It is also no secret to us that Satan has been trying everything he can to destroy God’s Church, and each and every one of us. We ought to be aware of that, stand guard and not let Satan persuade us to forsake God’s Way of Life and to follow the devil’s lead.
History has shown just how busy Satan is, especially in respect to God’s Church and at times when we prepare for the Feast of Tabernacles, which is quickly upon us, less than two months away. We can expect increasing difficulties, as Satan is very angry, knowing that he only has a short time left until Jesus Christ returns.
There is much work ahead of us as we prepare for the upcoming Feast, and we must be aware of our weaknesses that can cause us to lose our focus. We must not allow them to rule over us; rather, we must conquer them. One such weakness is laziness, which can be very addictive if we are not careful. If we let it get out of hand, it can wind us down more and more until we don’t have the desire to do anything anymore, or at least to the point when we have to force ourselves somehow to get back on track. We cannot let that happen as we ALL have a job to do. As true Christians, we are a part of God’s Church, which is a spiritual organism, and if we neglect or refuse to fulfill our individual responsibilities within the Church, or if we think we are not really a part of it or that there is no need for us to be a part of it, then we are in trouble, as we are probably not going to survive, especially in light of what is prophesied for the near future.
Satan wants us to be lazy and unfruitful, because he knows that if we give in to laziness, we will lose out. We read in Proverbs 13:4 that “the soul of the lazy man desires and has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.” We also read in Proverbs 10:4: “He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.” If we are diligent, zealous and “on fire,” we will be productive. Laziness bears no fruit, and it could even be considered a sin. Now, if we think that laziness by itself is not a sin, it can definitely lead to sin.
How serious is it then if we start to lack in our efforts? In Matthew 25:14-30, we read about the parable of the talents, referring to the Kingdom of God, and how easy it can be to miss out. It requires no effort to become lazy; it is so easy not to work hard; but this is dangerous, and we shouldn’t let it get that far. The lazy servant was also wicked (verse 26) and unprofitable (verse 30). He did not accomplish anything. We can apply this parable to any given situation in our lives, whether it be our work, our marriage, family relationships, childrearing, prayers and studies, tithes and offerings, or involvement in the Church in general. We will not profit in anything, if we are lazy. And we will not qualify to enter the Kingdom of God and eternal life, if we become and remain lazy.
Diligence is the key. We must work hard physically and spiritually. In this physical life, when we are diligent in our work, we will profit from it. But the most important thing is how we do spiritually. If we are diligent in that respect, we will profit in the most important gift which is offered to us–eternal life in the Family of God (compare Hebrews 4:11; 2 Peter 1:10-11).
