Learning from the Sloth

Update - Praise God that Pastor David Stone's test checked out good and is recovering from his recent minor heart attack. Here is one of his recent "Morning Mannas".

The sloth is a weird looking creature that lives in Central and South America. It spends most of its life hanging upside down in trees. It got its name from the fact that it moves so slowly and sleeps so much. They don't seem to get in a hurry for anything and that's OK--that's precisely how God designed them ( and you thought God doesn't have a sense of humor). It does what God designed it to do. We should be so smart! But when God's people act like a sloth it is a serious matter. It is a sin for us to not do what God designed us to do. Regina Barreca wrote the following humorous, yet sad, article that makes the point: "Sloth is insidious. It whispers that you might as well do it tomorrow, that nobody will know if you cut corners here and there to save yourself some trouble. Sloth says, "Don't strain yourself," "What's the big hurry?" and "Just give me five more minutes." Sloth hits the snooze alarm, hits the remote control and hits the road when the going gets tough...Sloth cheats on exams, drinks straight from the milk carton and leaves exactly two sheets on the toilet roll so that it will have to be replaced by the next poor soul who finds out too late that the remaining paper is nothing more than a mirage. Sloth does slightly less than the right thing. It doesn't tell the clerk he has undercharged. Sloth has never written a thank-you note, sent a birthday card on time or entertained angels. All this simple asks too much effort. " Regina Barteca (Chicago Tribune, 1996). We who claim to be followers of Christ need to think about that and remember the words of Solomon: "By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through" ( Ecclesiastes 10:18). THINK ABOUT IT! - DAVID STONE