The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

“The lazy man says, ‘There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!’” Prov. 22: 13 (NKJV). 1

Let’s face it; men can be lazy. Boys can be lazy. And home ed- ucated boys? They can be really, really lazy.

I have a son and three daughters. I am also married to Wonder Woman. My wife doesn’t have a lazy bone in her body. In fact, among friends I refer to her as my Proverbs 3100 woman—half virtuous wife, half power tool. Naturally, my girls are super active and hard working like their mother. Now don’t get me wrong; my son is a very, very hard working young man. He works a lot. He mows lawns and builds useful and important things for the household. He works with his hands, with his body, with his brain, on a farm, in an attic, with animals, with computers, in the kitchen, in the yard, and wherever else he is needed. He is a hard worker. But he’s a man, and as such he carries Adam’s sin. He’s like his daddy, half sloth and half warrior. We can’t help but to conjure up imaginary lions from time to time.

That’s why, as virtuous as his mother is, my son needs his father to help him slay his imaginary lions.

Laziness Begins in the Heart

You see, laziness gives way to fear. Fear gives way to excuse. And excuse gives way to inactivity. If you are not busily engaged in your duty, you probably have excuses stemming from fear, which in turn was borne out of laziness. In fact, if your first response to a duty is an excuse, you probably have biblical reason to assume you may be dealing with a lazy heart.

King Solomon thought this issue of sloth, of laziness, was important enough for him to repeat it to his son a few chapters later:

“The lazy man says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!” As a door turns on its hinges, so does the lazy man on his bed. The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly” Proverbs 26: 13-16

(NKJV).

Listen to what Charles Bridges had to
say about these verses in his commen-
tary on Proverbs: “Imaginary difficulties
are the indulgence of sloth. The slothful
man is a coward. He has no love for his
work, and therefore he is always ready to
put a cheat upon his own soul, inventing
some vain excuse, because he will not
do his duty. He shrinks from every work
likely to involve trouble. Fancied dangers
frighten him from real and present du-
ties. (. . .) He is afraid of being slain with-
out, when he willingly gives himself up to
be slain within.”
And we can’t blame anyone but our-
selves for this. The apostle James says in
the first chapter of his letter: “But each
one is tempted when he is drawn away by
his own desires and enticed. Then, when
desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin, when it is full-grown, brings
forth death” James 1: 14-15 (NKJV).

When Duty Calls

We live—and our boys are growing up— in a society that pampers the flesh, refuses to do hard things, and that seeks to be entertained. And we Christian home educators are not too unlike that society.

We hate comfort killers. When duty calls, we are so quick to say things like, “It’s too hot outside.” “It’s cold out there.” “I’m tired.” “I’ve had a long day.” “There’s not enough time to do that now.” “It’s too late; I’ll do it tomorrow.” “Let me think about that.” “I’ll work on that as soon as I . . .” We’re procrastinators. We’re lazy.