Have you ever been hungry but were too lazy to take a bite of your pizza? Unless you were sick, that would probably never happen. Yet in Proverbs 12 I find references to a person who is just that lazy.
“The lazy don’t roast their prey, but hard workers receive precious riches” (Proverbs 12:27 CEB). This is similar to “A sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth” (Proverbs 26:15 NIV).
Notice the up side of that proverb, that those who work diligently receive precious riches. It sounds remarkably like the sowing and reaping Jesus taught and common sense supports. Planting seeds and nurturing the crop guarantees the likelihood you’ll have a harvest.
“A hard worker is in charge, while a lazy one will be sentenced to hard labor” (verse 24).
The older version of NIV used the word slavery. So not only does the lazy person not get his pizza, he’s destined for a miserable life.
“Those who work their land will have plenty to eat, but those who engage in empty pursuits have no sense” (verse 11).
Every spring I hear of graduates being told to follow their dreams. I prefer the wisdom instead of “choose your pursuits with care and work diligently on them.” What’s the use of dreaming and wandering toward something with little chance of it becoming the reward you seek?
by Kathy Sheldon Davis
kathysheldondavis.com 
I especially appreciate what you wrote “we receive as we give toward others, and the harvest keeps on multiplying.” That’s so encouraging.
This post has made me wonder what comes first; the chicken or the egg? What I mean is as I see people lining the streets in front of food banks and shelters in Portland, I often wonder where they began to lose hope. Each person was once like the graduates you mentioned, with their own hopes and dreams, but gradually, they can fade because of disappointment after disappointment and struggle after struggle. Fortunately for me, people have helped me work through the disappointments in life. Many people give up, but God never gives up on them, or any of us! I am challenged to keep reaching out to the downtrodden and lifting them up by giving them an encouraging word and outstretched heart. There is another side of God’s love, we receive as we give toward others, and the harvest keeps on multiplying.