Yesterday's message focused on sloth.  We defined sloth from the dictionary as a habitual disinclination to exertion.  I pointed out sloth is that, but in our day it is also a habitual INCLINATION to meaningless activities that waste our lives.  In King Solomon's day, the inevitable consequences of sloth were scarcity and poverty (See Proverbs 24:30-34) .  The evidence of sloth was easy to find.  All a person had to do was look at the fields, vineyards and walls of a slothful person and note the nettles, weeds and disrepair.  In our day, sloth often hides itself in activity that has no such easily discernible evidence.  After all, what's the harm in an extra hour or two of video game playing, or television watching, or sitting and worrying about the concerns of life?

Are these last "activities" evidence of sloth?  As I pointed out yesterday, those activities waste our lives, and as such certainly fall into the category of sloth.  It isn't just "...a little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest..." that constitute sloth--although it is that.   Many folks came out of worship yesterday and said the message hit them hard.  They recognized themselves in it.  So did I.  The message was at least as much for me as for anyone else.  The key is to APPLY the commitment  we made at the end of the service, so we'll change.  Do you remember the commitment?  RELYING ON THE HOLY SPIRIT, I WILL KEEP A HEALTHY BALANCE BETWEEN WORK AND REST!  Remember, rest is not sloth!  Rest is a necessary part of every life dedicated to Jesus Christ.  It's the EXTRA sleep, slumber and folding of the hands to rest that cuts into the balance between work and rest that becomes sloth.  It's also the wasted hours that we may even call work, but which are nothing more or less than opportunities missed to enjoy God's grace and extend His glory!

 Take some time right now to consider areas in your life where sloth  may be subtly or not so subtly destroying the balance God desires between work and rest.  Then pray and repent of the slothful areas of your life, and ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, so you may fully enjoy His grace and extend His glory!