“The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.”

Proverbs 15:19 AMP

Good advice from our author today! Success seems to be on everyone’s mind. Successful people seem to have everything, do everything, and every way they walk seems to lead to more success. What people do not see is the hours and years of trial and hours upon hours of work to get where they are today. IT isn’t wrong to want to reach that same place. What is wrong is to think that those who have got there should and must share the spoils with those who have wasted their time instead of investing it in the future. There is an interesting Scripture that gets misinterpreted many times.

“The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”

Deuteronomy 28:8 NKJV

Notice that the verse says “…set you hand to…” The picture here is of a farmer readying the plow to prepare the field. Plowing ground by oxen is not an easy job? If a harvest was to be had, someone had to do the work. I love this picture because it reminds us that we must do what we can do and then God will do what we cannot! We can prepare the ground, plant the seed, water it daily yet, we cannot make it grow! In our verse today King Solomon is referencing the way of life. The word “way” is the Hebrew word meaning to “a route to get from one place to another; Behaving in a manner that one conducts themselves including habits and practices showing the destination they are heading!” 

When watching an athlete prepare for a competition, we see the determination and commitment they must winning the event. No award was ever won by an Olympian without years of preparation for a single moment in time! The world today is stuck on the fact that they should get an award just because they exist. Nothing could be further from the truth! We have lost the notion that “nothing comes for free!” Notice the description of the unsuccessful man. The word “lazy” here is the word meaning “to be slow to take ANY action, suggesting a lack of discipline or initiative, as a moral failure; a person who is habitually lazy and inactive, suggesting that he has no discipline or initiative.” Never has something come from nothing! A lifestyle of laziness and slothfulness only leads to hardship. It is at that point that others want the spoils of those who prepared. This is contrasted against the way of the wise.

The verse tells us that the “way of the wise” is a highway. The word “highway” is the word “to be esteemed.” It signifies a personal involvement with the action. It means that the work invested will provide a bountiful reward. Highways are large, broad, and safe paths. They are much different than a pathway blocked by thorns and thistles! The abundant reward of work invested will always be better than the pain and suffering of laziness! Back t our verse in Deuteronomy, “…puts his hand to…” clearly means that a man must work if he desire to reap the rewards! 

God has called us to be productive with our lives. When He placed man in the garden He commanded him to,

“So the LORD God took the man [He had made] and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.”

Genesis 2:15 AMP

Do you see it? No free ride! Even in the garden of Eden, man had a task to do. Even in the New Testament we read, 

“For even while we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.”

1 Thessalonians 3:10 AMP

This command wasn’t to penalize anyone but rather to encourage everyone to contribute so those who actually could not participate could share with those who could! Have a blessed day, Pastor Ken