Growing in Grace

See this guy?  He’s a sloth.  They have quite a reputation of being lazy.  That’s not necessarily true.  They are fulfilling their role in the world to the best of their ability.  It’s not their fault that they are designed to be slow.  We don’t fault the sloth for following its nature.

Then, there’s another kind of sloth.  Not so cute.  It is one of the deadly sins, which are considered deadly because they ‘destroy charity in the man/woman’s heart’ ultimately leading to eternal death. 

According to Wikipedia, “Sloth is defined as spiritual and/or actual apathy or laziness, putting off what God asks you to do, or not doing it or anything at all.  Acedia is a Latin word, from Greek akedia, literally meaning “absence of caring”.  Acedia can also lead to God’s wrath.”

While I am not terribly confident in the accuracy of Wikipedia on some things, I think they hit the mark with this one.

Stick with me here, I do have a point.

I was listening to a short devotional today about the Proverbs 31 woman.  In all honesty, I thought it was kind of dry and was glad that it only lasted less than 20 minutes so I wouldn’t have to spend much time on it.  I’ve read Proverbs 31 and carried much guilt over that lady’s perfection when I can’t even get everyone’s shoes on at the same time, let alone use a spindle and distaff and meet merchant ships from afar.

The speaker began talking about how we are to sacrifice for our families.  And, that sacrifice comes in many different forms.  We may sacrifice a promising career to stay home and raise our kiddos.  We may sacrifice a new car every couple of years in order to live on one income.  Those kinds of things aren’t big sacrifices to me.  I don’t need luxury cars or designer clothes.  I couldn’t keep them laundered anyhow!

Then she said something that really resonated with me.  One of the biggest sacrifices that we make is our time.  We often sacrifice alone time in order to be at the ready when the kiddos come down for breakfast.  We have to give up that time we would rather spend reading or watching TV to help everyone get their evening routine finished and get in bed.

Now, this is personal.  I do not like to sacrifice my alone time.  If I could design the perfect day for me, it would include reading, blogging, writing, and several other ‘alone’ kinds of activities.  While I love to be with friends, I also hold tightly to the time when I don’t have to ‘be there’ for anyone else.  In addition, my perfect day would involve me being in bed until at least 10:00 in the morning.  With no one jumping on the bed wanting to know what there is to eat.

Instead, the Proverbs 31 woman got up while it was still dark and she kept her lamp burning at night.  She was probably the first one up and last one to bed.  Why?  Well, I can tell you from personal experience that those are the best times to get things accomplished.  Once the household is up and bustling about, you can’t really do much that isn’t maintenence throughout the day. 

If I was the first one up and last one to bed (well, aside from dh, who likes to be up very, very late) I know without a doubt that I could get much more accomplished.  And I don’t mean the first one up where my feet hit the downstairs floor first with little ones right behind me.  I mean, really, deliberately get up early.  In order to start my day right and meet with the Lord first.  To set my steps on the best path - not just a good path.

And, on top of that, I believe that I am also lazy.  Slothful.  Not the cute one.

If I am writing or reading, I would much rather have the kiddos get their own cups and bring me the juice to pour their drinks than to stop what I’m doing and do it myself.  If I am involved in something that is more of an ‘alone’ activity, I don’t want to be bothered.  Not just because i’m ‘busy’, but because I don’t want to quit my fun thing to fulfill my responsibilities.

Right now, as a matter of fact, I should be folding clothes.  But, I really don’t want to.

I look to dh to help me around the house a lot.  And, when he comes in from work, that’s probably the last thing he wants to do.  Truthfully, if I got off my lazy hiney more often, I might be able to keep up with everything without burdening him with additional work.

You know the saying, if you take it out, put it up; and if you make a mess, clean it up.  The kiddos aren’t good at that because I’m not good at that.  My modeling isn’t doing them any good.  I’m modeling ‘if you take it out, lay it aside and get it later when the pile on top of it is too high to stand alone anymore.’

And, I could blame it on my nature.  I need more sleep than the average person.  You know, that might be true, but that’s not a very good excuse.  I have five kids; it’s hard to keep up with the laundry.  Yep, but that means I need a better system or fewer clothes.

I am called to be a living sacrifice.  No one else can do my job at home.  But, if I’m busy making excuses and doing things that have no eternal value, then I am missing the mark.  God doesn’t want my excuses.  He wants my sacrifice.   

Filed under: Inside My Head, Life with Jesus on May 22nd, 2008