One of the reasons that I love the Bible is that it’s so vivid! It often doesn’t just tell you a truth. It paints you a picture. And Proverbs 15:19 is a great example of that. It says, “The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.”

Man, just last deer season, I got into a terrible patch of thorns. My son shot a deer but didn’t immediately drop it. And so, that deer ran off, and guess where he ran? Right into the biggest thorn thicket in Lauderdale Co. But we were determined to find him, and so, in we went after him.

And hoo-wee, it was tough going. It was slow. It was painful. It was destructive. I came out with ripped skin and ripped jeans and a ripped shirt. And we never found the deer. A thicket of thorns is no fun at all.

But that’s what life is like for the sluggard, a habitually lazy person. Life is tough. It’s slow going. It’s often painful. They miss opportunities and are dependent on others. They struggle financially and usually have bad health and low self-worth. Their life is filled with unfulfilled potential. It’s like they’re always walking through a thicket of thorns.

But that’s not how it is for the upright and the industrious. For them, life is like a level highway. It’s much easier going.

Beloved, while laziness may seem like the easy way at first, you’ll soon find it is much harder. So, avoid it at all costs.

Change begins in you!