We cannot see wastefulness in any of the Lord's consecrated people without feeling that, however great progress they have made in understanding the mind of the Lord in some respects, they are still deficient in this particular. An appreciation of the gift and respect for the Giver implies carefulness and a stewardship in respect to all that comes to us from our Heavenly Father—things temporal and things spiritual. According to our Lord's parables, He is measuring our love and zeal in a considerable degree by our use or abuse of the talents, opportunities, blessings, temporal and spiritual, now bestowed upon us.
The spirit of the slothful man is that of waste. He wastes his time, which is precious and irredeemable. He wastes his talents, which are improvable. He wastes his opportunities, which flee to others. He wastes his energy, which rusts from inactivity. He wastes his reputation, which may never return. He wastes his friends, who forsake him. He wastes his possessions, which are taken from him. He wastes his character, which debases him. He wastes his life, which is taken from him. He wastes eternity, which is lost to him. Let slothfulness, therefore, be far from us, as saints of the Lord.
Prov. 6:6-11; 10:4, 5, 26; 12:11, 24, 27; 13:4; 15:19; 19:15, 24; 20:4, 13; 21:5, 25; 22:29; 23:21; 24:30-34; 26:13-16; 27:23-27; 30:25-28; 31:13-27; Eccles. 10:18; Isa. 56:10; Matt. 25:26, 27; Rom. 12:11; Eph. 4:28; 1 Thes. 4:11, 12; 2 Thes. 3:10-12; Heb. 6:12; 1 Tim. 5:8.
