The reason that we may not be getting the thing done that the Lord wants us to do is that we might be slothful.  You’ve seen a sloth before.  It moves so slowly that it appears, most of the time, to not be moving.  Solomon describes the slothful man in Prov 26:13-15, and shows us three of his traits.  If we are wise, Prov 1:5, we might consider that we are like the slothful man when it comes to procrastinating on doing something the Lord wants us to do.

The slothful man makes ridiculous excuses, Prov 26:13.

There may be a lion in the streets, but not likely.  Lions hunt at night and sleep in the daytime.  To refuse to go out because of a lion is a lame excuse.  The problem with us, who know the Christian lingo, is that when we make excuses, they sound so spiritual.  Nevertheless, they are still excuses and we’re not doing what God has shown us to do.

The slothful man just turns on his hinges, Prov 26:14.

That is, there is movement, but it’s all back and forth.  Like people coming to church, they come in and they go out.  But nothing else gets done.  If people are going to be saved through our witness, we must go out to them.  We can’t just keep coming and going in here.

The slothful man won’t feed himself, Prov 26:15.

Christians often say that they don’t attempt to lead souls to Jesus Christ because they don’t know what to say.  Yet, they make no attempt to learn.  Like this slothful man, they are too lazy to feed themselves the word of God so that they will know what to say to the lost.  There are people who will teach you if you are willing to go out and learn.

Conclusion: If we are ever going to do that which God has given us to do, we must start making an effort and quit making excuses.  We must go out to those who don’t know Christ.  And we must learn what to say so that we can lead them to Jesus.