No one wants to be called a sluggard or thought of as lazy.
We read today’s verses and might think, “This doesn’t apply to me. I’m a hard worker.” But as I was preparing and praying over what God would have me share today, my mind kept going back to the word “soul.” The soul of the sluggard craves while the soul of the diligent is satisfied.
And I wonder, how is my soul these days? How is yours?
When we read about the sluggard in Proverbs 24:30-34 we see a man in an unkempt, overgrown field. It’s a field full of thorns, covered in nettles with boundary walls that are broken down.
I’ve been told that our souls are like gardens. We have to intentionally work in the “garden of our souls” to weed out thorns like unforgiveness, jealousy, and pride. Gardening takes time and to do a good job, you can’t rush through it or take short cuts.
I remember one year my husband and I were redoing our flowerbeds. Instead of completely cleaning them out, removing all the debris and old dirt and laying down a new layer of weed guard, we felt like it was just going to be too much work and opted out. At first, you couldn’t tell we hadn’t laid down the weed guard before planting the flowers. But within a week or so the weeds were growing right alongside the flowers. If left unchecked, they would have eventually grown and taken over the flower bed.
And I wonder, how lazy have I become in tending to my soul? Have I laid down a layer of “weed guard” – the application of God’s Word – to help prevent weeds from growing in my life? Am I allowing the true gardener, Jesus, to gently convict me of weeds that are growing in my heart, and then am I allowing Him to remove them?
The Bible says that out of the overflow of our heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). What have my words lately revealed about the condition of my heart?
Proverbs 13:4 contrasts two souls. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Sweet friends, we were made to work. When God first created Adam and Eve, He placed them in a beautiful garden to work and cultivate. Like them, God has placed us right where He wants us to work and cultivate. We need to not be lazy in the cultivation of our lives, as well as the cultivation of our souls. They go together. As goes our souls, so goes our lives.
When we choose to walk in wisdom, we choose to be women who dig into God’s Word; women who get the truth of His words under our fingernails, women who plant His truth in the soil of our hearts, and women who daily water our souls with His living water.
Sweet friends, there’s a lot of work to do in this world. Let’s roll up our sleeves, dig into the wisdom found in the Bible, and cultivate His truth in our lives and in the communities where we have been planted!
Let’s Talk: How are you cultivating your soul, home, and community where you live?
Love God Greatly!
Week 4 Challenge: Take time this week and pray, asking God if there are any weeds in your heart that He needs to remove. Sit and be still before Him. If He does reveal something, then be brave and act on it. Don’t wait in your obedience.
Week 4 Video:
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Week 4 Reading Plan:
Week 4 Memory Verse:

I suffer from depression and anxiety. There have been many times when I feel as the sluggers. It is all I can do to get up and get my grandsons off to school. It is then I forget what the power of prayer and reading thexperience bible can do for me. It seems I wallow in self pity and feel worthless. I just need call out for help from God and things will change. Lately with the move away from my family and friends I have had more days of being low and depressed. It not only affects me but my family as nothing gets done, no dinner made, no laundry done, etc. I feel guilty but it seems the need for being lazy overpowers me. Lately I have been realizing this and I have called out to God much more than in the past. I still have bad days. But this week’s study is opening my eyes as to what can and should be done.
Sweetness, God is helping you. I pray for His strength in your mind and body, to do all that you need to do. Amen. Much love dear.
I was just talking with my husband yesterday about feeling the same way as you expressed here, Vicki! “I feel guilty but it seems the need for being lazy overpowers me.”
It’s sometimes like an endless cycle…I get down so I don’t want to do anything, then not doing anything makes me feel guilty which makes me feel more down…and it goes round and round.
But, you are absolutely right – we just need to call out for help from God and things will change! Praise God for His faithfulness and consistency!
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.” – Psalm 28:7 (ESV)
I love the garden analogy. Yes, when I pull weeds out of my flower gardens I do get dirt under my fingernails. I was thinking that in this time of the year I am not in my garden looking for weeds, but then you reminded me about the garden of my soul. The season is always right of looking for those weeds and asking God’s help to get them pulled out.
It’s hard work, but the beauty that comes after is worth it. Right? Let’s tend to our souls well.
Weed #1 = Procrastination!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, that’s a big one for me, too! Ouch!