Bible Commentaries

THE FIELD OF THE SLUGGARD

‘I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, Io, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof,’ etc.

Proverbs 24:30-32

I. The scene shows that if we will not have flowers and fruits, we shall certainly have thorns and nettles.

II. The scene shows that the sluggard and the fool cannot hide the results of their neglect.

III. The scene shows how possible it is to be right in some particulars and to be grievously wrong in others.—The legal right of the slothful man to the possession of the field might be undisputed. It is not enough to possess; we must increase.

IV. The scene shows that even the worst abuses may be turned to good account.—Keep your eyes open, and you will read moral lessons everywhere. (1) You will see that the finest possessions may be wasted: property, talent, inflence, opportunity. (2) You will see that wickedness always moves in the direction of destruction.

Illustration

‘You see the progress of damage was very slow—a little bit of foul ground, a little bit of diminution of juice and sap in the vines, a little bit of loosening about the walls; but here is the mischief: each little bit added to that was gradually running up a wholesale bulk of arrears. Nevertheless, I think the man might have taken warning. But, do you know, there was a process of dilapidation going on in his character? That is the mischief. You cannot scamp your outside work without ruining your own character. This was what was happening as he indulged in indolence, as he permitted that weed of love and ease, as he suffered that noxious nettle of dislike of hard work, to spring here and there—this hour, that half-hour, and so on. You see it was little bit by little bit. He did not feel a sudden degradation take place in his disposition, in his nature.’