June 11, 2024 • 43 mins
Can embracing the work ethic of an ant transform your life? Join us on this thought-provoking episode of The Every Day Christian Podcast as we explore the powerful biblical lessons on diligence and laziness. Drawing from the wisdom of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, we contrast the industrious nature of ants with the lethargy of sluggards, highlighting how diligence paves the way to prosperity while laziness leads to poverty. We encourage you to adopt an "ant mentality" for greater productivity and fulfillment in your Christian walk!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You work, you prepare , you provide, you know.
When you see these types ofthings, you're really left up
with two choices Do you keepdreaming about it or do you get
after it.
Yeah, Welcome back to theEveryday Christian Podcast,
(00:31):
where we apply scripturalprinciples to everyday Christian
lives.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I'm Sean Sloggett and I'm John Rich, and today we are
going to talk about something alittle bit differently.
Sean, laziness I don't reallyhave a fancy title, but laziness
is what we want to discusstoday in this episode.
That's laziness, fancy title,but laziness is what we want to
discuss today in this episode.
It's lazy before, yeah, it'slazy.
You know, we had some lazy.
Uh, it's a lazy podcast.
I guess, if you will, we shouldwear PJs.
(00:57):
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Tumblers.
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Support the show, support ourcause, support what we're doing
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(01:18):
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Speaker 1 (01:30):
I'm going to start us off by reading a few scriptures
here.
Proverbs 6 and 6, Go to theaunt, thou sluggard, consider
her ways and be wise.
Proverbs 13 and 4, the soul ofthe sluggard desireth and hath
nothing, but the soul of thediligent shall be made fat.
And Ecclesiastes 10 and 18, bymuch slothfulness the building
(01:56):
decayeth, and through idlenessof the hands the house droppeth
through Brother Jonathan.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
You know there's even more on that Proverbs 6 I was
thinking about.
There's a lot that goes intothat.
You all know that scripture.
Consider the ant, oh, sluggard,and I'm going to show you sort
of the contrast between thesluggard and the ant in this
episode.
I'm probably going to talk waytoo much about ants and I know
(02:25):
now way too much about ants, soit's really interesting there.
But oftentimes when we I thinkwe read that scripture, what we
think of is a lazy person versusa non-lazy person and that's a,
that's a pretty.
You know, basic like that.
That is essentially what thatscripture says.
But there there is a little bitdeeper thought into it.
(02:46):
You know, when we talk aboutthe Anne O Slugger, consider her
ways, be wise.
Without having any chiefofficer or ruler, she prepares
her bread in summer and gathersher food in the harvest.
There's a lot to that.
How will you sleep there?
How long will you sleep there,o Slugger?
When will you arise from yoursleep?
A little sleep, a littleslumber, a little folding of the
(03:06):
hands to rest, and poverty willcome upon you like a robber and
want like an armed man.
You know there's a lot tounpack there in those verses,
but the main idea is this.
I'm not certain who said it,but I believe it perfectly
summarizes this verse.
It says a lack of diligenceleads to a steady and
unrelenting stream of poverty.
(03:27):
The things about ants is thatthey not only work hard, but
they work diligently hard,brother Sean.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Yeah, proverbs does speak a couple different times
of laziness.
These you know, for example,and the ant is one that's always
kind of intriguing when youread up on it.
We've heard several ministersand teachers, I'm sure, teach on
them, but their work ethicseems to be impeccable.
(03:57):
It seems like they're always onthe go.
They're always working togetherOn the go.
Yeah, they're always workingtogether.
That's something that stood outto me is, when you see them,
most of the time there's a wholeline of them going on, and
there's science.
There's several things behindthat as well, yeah, and the fact
(04:18):
that they make good use oftheir time, yeah, that's what's
big.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I think here is the diligence.
The word diligence is huge oftheir time.
Yeah, that's what's big.
I think here is the diligence.
You know the diligent.
The word diligence is huge andit it makes you know.
When I think of an ant, I thinkof diligence because it's
someone who is careful andpersistent in work and in effort
.
It's a strategic work.
It's not just I'm going to usethe word sporadically a couple
of times here, but it's not justa work that is sporadically,
(04:43):
but they have patterns, theyhave forms.
Sometimes those patterns change, but for the most part they
stay the same and they form.
But a sluggard, on the otherhand, I'm showing you those
contrasts.
But I want to show youdifferent contrasts with the ant
.
But as described here inProverbs, is one who is lazy,
sleepy or slow moving.
They're not alert.
(05:05):
Oftentimes what I find, brotherSean, and we're talking about
what Proverbs calls a sluggardand what Proverbs calls an ant.
So when you hear me say theword sluggard, just know I'm
talking about lazy people.
And when you see or hear me saythe word ant, just know that
I'm talking about diligent,hardworking, consistent people.
(05:25):
I want to make that knownbefore you're like man, they're
just talking about ants.
I'm not doing that.
I'm talking about you.
Some of you so.
But but oftentimes what I findbrother Sean is a sluggard
watches an ant with jealousyinstead of with a willingness to
learn from it.
But you never have an antwatching a slugger or someone
(05:49):
with an ant mentality watching alazy person, because that ant
mentality is mission minded.
It doesn't quit or rest untilthe mission is over, at least
for that day.
The crazy thing about all thiswe always see ants moving all
the time.
You know, if you've ever beenoutside and you've played in the
dirt and you've seen thoselittle piles, and I think every
(06:11):
one of us have probably put ourfoot like down in it or like
moved it with a stick orsomething.
And then all of a sudden, thesehundreds and hundreds of
thousands of ants come out ofnowhere.
But they are inside of thosethose dirt piles, working.
Okay, they are gathering food,they're trying to do all these
things.
But the crazy thing about antsyou know, we always think that,
(06:32):
to be someone who's moving andalways doing something, they
actually do rest, they do sleep.
People don't realize that whenyou think about the ant and
that's the contrast I was tryingto talk about.
We think we have to be doingwork all the time, 24-7.
We never get a break, we neverget a siesta, we never get a
(06:53):
time away from the mission, andthat's just not true.
We can have times of rest.
We can have times of what theycall sabbaticals.
You know, we can't have timesof being away from the ministry
for a period of time.
There's nothing wrong with that.
I want you to understand that.
I want you to realize that whenwe consider the ant and her
ways, you need to consider theant and all of her ways, not
(07:13):
just the work, the hard thingsthat they do.
There's a lot to unpack,there's a lot to do there, but
there's also the rest.
Rest is needed in the work ofthe God.
Rest is needed in yourday-to-day life.
Maybe you do just a simple job.
Maybe you're not someone with atitle or a ministry or whatever
(07:35):
.
Maybe you're a mechanic oryou're a computer nerd like me,
you know, maybe you're somethinglike that, but you still need
rest from some of the things.
But here is the kicker you needrest from things that you're
working hard on so that you canbounce back and do more.
So you can bounce back and dobetter.
A lazy person rests all the time.
(07:57):
A lazy person doesn't careabout the work so long as they
get the glory for it.
A lazy person has a mentalitythat it's me, me, me, me, me, I,
I, I, I, I, and doesn't careabout anyone else around them.
There's nothing wrong withsleeping, there's nothing wrong
with resting.
Jesus did that.
But when we think of thesluggard or the lazy, they're
(08:20):
always quick or slow to get up.
Their brains don't function asquickly, they aren't as quick as
others and most of the time,instead of blaming themselves,
they blame those who work hardand try to do a work for God or
try to provide for theirfamilies.
Brother Sean, Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
You know the motivation behind the ants has
inspired people for thousands ofyears.
Yeah, you know in so much thatit's mentioned multiple times
throughout the bible.
You know, in proverb 6 we'retalking about, we see the, the
writer, telling people go outand study this tiny, just
(08:58):
minuscule.
I mean, what are they?
Maybe a quarter inch long, ifthat Depends?
Yeah, I mean just the smallestlittle things.
Saying go out and study them,consider its motivation,
consider its work ethic,consider its togetherness,
consider all these things aboutit.
(09:18):
And you said something just aminute ago.
You said to consider all of it,not just one part of it.
Right, and I feel like that'swhat we need to do.
Ants are very busy, but intheir busyness they're
accomplishing something becausethey're all together.
(09:40):
It's everything about them.
We all know people that arebusybodies as well.
Yeah, and on the flip side oflaziness, just because you're a
busybody doesn't necessarilymean you're doing things either.
Right, and I believe thatbecause I know some people that
work very hard at being lazy.
(10:03):
Yeah, it's kind of weird tothink of it that way, but we all
know some people like that.
Yeah, we will do extra work toget out of having to do what we
were told to do because we don'twant to do it or it's too hard.
So we try figuring out how toget around it, and oftentimes we
(10:24):
probably work harder gettingout of something that we do.
So just because you're a busybody doesn't necessarily mean
that you're not lazy, but thattogether and everything about
the ant is what helps it getthere.
You know they prepare.
Part of the reason they do whatthey do is because they are
(10:44):
preparing for the bad times forthose things to come.
Right, you know they feel thecold air moving in around
harvest time so they start theyactually eat more.
I don't know exactly what, butyou know they start like
building their bodies up toprepare for those kind of things
and getting themselves readyfor it.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, it's something that you said.
The word motivation, it's.
What is their motivation?
Obviously, if you don't knowthis, an ant's motivation is to
protect and help the queen antLike.
That's what they strive for.
They want to get food.
They've got scavengers, they'vegot different people, different
ants working to do something,and that's what's beautiful
(11:28):
about it too.
You don't have to be the same.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
You don't have to be the queen ant.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Well, no, it's exactly what I, what I was
getting at, you know, in thisscenario.
To me, you know, when you talkabout doing a work for god, um,
that queen ant represents to megod.
You know, it represents thework of god.
You know, we're all doing itwith, with a mission in mind,
and we all rely on each other.
We can't do it on our own.
The lazy sluggard has themindset that I can do it on my
(12:01):
own and I better get praised fordoing it on my own.
Or I'm going to do this littlebit over here, even though these
people over here are doing tonsof things, tons of works for
God, tons of things that thatare great.
If I do this little thing overhere, I hope I get recognized
for it or some sort ofrecognition for it, and that's
(12:22):
not the right mindset.
That's not an ant mindset.
An ant mindset is doing thingsfor God with one another, with
other people that all havedifferent walks of life, they
come from different backgrounds,they all do something
differently and they do itwithout caring who gets credit
for it On the flip side not theflip, but on the secular, the
(12:46):
worldly side of that.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
You know me being somebody who is self-employed, I
do.
I do pressure washing, junkremoval cleanup style stuff.
Yeah, demo work, some lightthings like that.
I know winters are going to getvery slow for me.
Yeah, nobody wants their housepressure washed when it's 30
degrees and snowing outside.
(13:07):
That's just part of life.
So I try to work hard and saveup as much as I can, because I
know that when it starts coolingoff things are going to fall
off.
You know I don't just lay aroundall summer long hoping and
waiting that maybe hopefullysome work will come in, or
(13:28):
hopefully this.
You know I'm not waiting onUncle Sam to help take care of
me during the winter.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Because he's, because you'd be done for he's failed
me already.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
But you know, you work, you prepare, you provide,
you know, when you see thesetypes of things, uh, you're,
you're, you.
You're really left up with twochoices do you keep dreaming
about it or do you get after it.
You know, we talk about wantingmission works, wanting to start
(14:09):
bus ministries, wanting to helpthe homeless, wanting to do all
these things, and we dreamabout it and dream about it, and
dream about it, and dream aboutit, and dream about it.
Right, and all of a sudden,it's five years down the road
and guess what?
We're still wanting a busministry, we're still wanting to
(14:29):
do whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yeah, I've been to a lot of churches like that,
Unfortunately with that samemindset.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
The lazy man will keep dreaming about it while
sitting on his couch.
Yeah you're right, and thedetermined, diligent man will
chase after it.
When I wanted to start my ownbusiness, obviously I did things
.
I sat down, we looked atanalytics, we tried doing
different studies and differentthings to see if it was
(15:00):
something that would work for meand my family, but eventually I
had to act on it.
I had a 9 to 5 job, 10 to 6,really I had a 10 to 6 job, but
before 10 o'clock, if I wasn'tout talking to people
advertising after 6 o'clock, ifI wasn't out talking to people
(15:20):
advertising after six o'clock,if I wasn't out talking
advertising, picking up theselittle jobs, I'd have still been
sitting at home.
I feel like right now, two anda half years later right, not
quite two and a half years, butclose to it I'd still be sitting
on my couch thinking about man.
One of these days I'm going toown my own business.
(15:41):
Who knows, it may flop, yeah,but it's not going to flop, with
me sitting on the couch.
I'm chasing after it.
I got up, I pushed for it, Itried to see what I was active
in pursuing that dream.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
A lot of people have goals and visions.
I would say a majority ofpeople probably have those, but
the action is what separates theslugger from the ant.
You know you think about it.
Might've been your dad.
I can't remember who it was,but who I was talking to.
It's been a few years back.
But they said God bless hiseffort.
(16:17):
And that's so huge and it's beena few years back, but they said
God bless his effort.
And that's so huge.
And it's so true because noteverything about your business
has been perfect, not, you know.
Not everything has been just,you know, up high on the
mountain by any means.
And I I I say that about youbut, like a lot of you are
listening and I know I facethings where you know things
have failed or you knowministries haven't went quite as
(16:38):
how I thought they would go,but but you try and it's like
that effort that you put into it.
I believe that God honors that.
I believe that God blesses youfor that.
And there's times where youknow Brother Sean, you could
attest to this probably butyou're like, you're working hard
, you're grinding is what youknow, the new word nowadays you
know you're putting in the grind, you're doing all these things,
(17:00):
and even though you're puttingin the grind and the wheels are
spinning and it seems likeyou're not getting anywhere, but
then here comes something onthe side that comes in and it's
like God just gifts it to you.
But he didn't just gift it toyou.
It's not him just laying it on,laying it in your lap as a as a
present.
He's doing that because of theart of sowing and reaping.
(17:23):
He's doing that because if yousow good seed, you're going to
bring forth good fruit, and Ithink that that's so important.
You know, we talk about thedifference between a sluggard or
a lazy person and someone who'sant minded.
You know, someone who doesn'tblame others for everything
that's going on and I'll getinto that in a moment who
doesn't want all the glory, whodoesn't want people to feel
(17:46):
badly for them, but it's someonewho relies on the help of
everyone else.
They refuse to give up or giveany glory to themselves.
They aren't worried about howothers feel or think about them.
They aren't worried aboutbragging on what they've done.
They are just there to workhard and to help others along
the way.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
I asked this question a while back and I've continued
to ponder it and this will tieinto where you're talking about
right now and maybe help youjump into the rest of it.
But I've wondered if Christianculture has contributed to the
(18:25):
laziness in men and that's aharsh statement, I know it is,
but growing up we have heardwell, God will provide.
Yeah, and I believe he willHear me out on this.
Wait on God's timing.
(18:47):
In his perfect timing, he'llmake it happen.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
God will make a way.
And again, I understand and Iagree with these things.
But where is the teaching on?
But, whatsoever the handfindeth to do, do it Love with
(19:14):
all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind love with
all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind.
Do unto others as you'd havethem do unto you.
Not think, not dream, not hope,but do.
Yeah, we need God, we need hisdirection.
He will provide things for us,but he blesses effort.
(19:39):
And if we get to a point wherewe're sitting around waiting on
God's timing, waiting on him tomake a way, waiting on him to
open the door, and we're justsitting there twiddling our
thumbs, that is laziness.
(20:00):
Yeah, you know, I think I'veused this example before.
I think I used it here recently.
But you talk about a waiter.
You think of a waiter at arestaurant.
They don't go just sit in thecorner.
A good waiter I know there areothers, but a good waiter or
(20:20):
waitress is not going to just gosit over in the corner.
They're constantly movingthroughout the whole restaurant
because they've got 5, 10, 15tables, whatever, and they are
moving around.
Do you need a refill?
Do you need a refill?
Can I get that plate out ofyour way?
Would you like some more chipsand salsa?
(20:41):
What about?
Speaker 2 (20:43):
dessert, can I do?
Speaker 1 (20:44):
these?
Yeah, they are actively workingtowards their goal, which is
getting paid and getting a goodtip.
Yeah, if they sat over in thecorner, probably not going to
get that good of a tip Right.
But they're moving throughout,they're working, they're trying
to do something and I believethat when we're waiting on God
(21:06):
to provide, when we're waitingon his timing, what are we doing
?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
in the meantime.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Are we actively still moving about, trying to see
what we can do?
I'm not saying act on impulse,just go crazy and just hope it
all works.
We do need to prepare, we needto study, but you still have to
act.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
It just goes back and forth.
To that what I was mentioningearlier about doing the work.
You know, sometimes there'sgoing to be ministries that fail
.
I mean there's bound to beministries and works that fail.
But everything that you do, tome it's just a stepping stone to
(21:56):
something greater.
It's just a stepping stone tosomething greater.
And how are you ever going toget to the place where God wants
you, or to the work that Godwants you in, if you're not
doing anything to take thosesteps?
On those stepping stones youknow, think about.
I've mentioned this before manytimes, I'll just keep it brief
here.
But, like my life, like I thinkabout the little things that
(22:16):
lead me to where I am today.
I talked to the youth aboutthis last night.
It's like man, if I had thoughtat 15, I'd be where I am today
or I'd face some of the things Idid today, I'd probably want to
give up.
But little by little, likethrough my life, since I've
(22:36):
accepted Christ as my Savior andgrowing in Him and being
strengthened by Him, little bylittle it's just my faith in Him
has grown, but the work that Ido for Him has grown as well.
I've wanted and desire to domore.
You know the Bible says again Imentioned this to the teens
last night but the Bible saysthat all things work together
(22:58):
for the good to them who loveGod, who are called according to
his purpose.
You know God loves you, god hascalled you, there's works that
you can do and eventually thingsare going to work together.
You may not see, you knowwhatever it is, you feel like
God's called you or spoke to youabout.
Come to fruition right now.
But that doesn't mean you stop.
That doesn't mean you donothing.
(23:24):
That's a sluggard mentality.
But an ant mentality is we'regoing to keep working in this
anthill until it's time to moveon to the next anthill.
We're going to work in thatanthill until it's time to move
on to the bigger anthill andcontinually do that.
You know the reason why some ofyou can't grow your church or
strengthen your church isbecause you are sporadically
doing different random worksthat others have done or you can
think of and after two weeks ofnot seeing immediate results
(23:47):
you give up.
The reason why some of you livein poverty or don't live in a
state of fruitfulness we'retalking secular now is because
you don't have the grind,determination, grit or
consistency that the ant has.
I know that we're living intough times.
I know that everyone isstruggling.
I know that it seems likemaking and saving money is
(24:09):
harder now than it ever has beenbefore.
But I also know that there arepeople out there right now who
are not wealthy by any means,who are making it, who are
striving, who are saving.
You know that sluggardmentality says look at what the
government is doing, look at theprices of everything going up.
Look at the taxes.
Look at the rich, who are onlygetting richer.
Look at the things that JoeBiden is doing, while the ant
(24:30):
says I'm going to do everythingI can to make it.
I'm going to do everything Ican that my family will make it.
I'm going to do everything Ican to help others make it.
I'm going to do sacrifice somedays of enjoyment for a short
while so that I can be set up inthe long run.
No matter who Obama or Biden orBush is president, or Trump is
president he's in jail.
No, he's not in jail yet orTrump is president, it doesn't
(24:53):
matter.
We all go through differentfinancial things.
Yeah, it's probably worse thanit ever has been before, but
this is not the first time oureconomy has been bad.
This is not the first timewe've went through struggles.
There are people in the 30sthat have went through way worse
struggles than you're goingthrough right now.
I'm just saying it's not timeto put your head down and blame
(25:15):
everybody else.
It's time to get up, work, dosomething, put the grind in.
It may not be something you'regoing to forever do, but if you
put the grind in, it's going tobe a stepping stone for you to
do that in the future, brotherSean.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
I had a guy that worked for me for a little while
that we were tearing someflooring out and I got on
Facebook on a local page.
You said, hey, I need some help.
If anybody looking for any work, message me.
And I think the number over.
(25:53):
We started the job on a Friday,so on a Friday which we didn't
work Saturday and Sunday, but Ihad the post out.
So Friday, monday and Tuesday.
Over those days I had I believeit was 32 people reach out to
me and say, hey, we'reinterested in the job, can we
work, you know whatever and sayhey, we're interested in the job
(26:14):
, can we work whatever?
Out of those 32, I think therewas 15 said I'll be there.
So about half of them said I'llbe there.
Five of those 15 showed up.
(26:34):
Two of them showed up late butthey showed up and they worked.
Two of them showed up, workedabout 15, 20 minutes maybe Came
and shook my hand, said it wastoo hard and they were going
home.
The joys of owning a business.
Yeah, and one of them said I'llbe there at I think it was noon
(26:59):
because it was on Monday whenall the others kept falling
through.
He said I'll be there aboutnoon and he messaged me and said
, hey, I'll be there about noon.
And he messaged me and said,hey, I'll be five minutes late,
I'm trying to get there.
So I was like hey, where areyou at?
He said I'm fixing to come upto the Walmart which was right
(27:22):
across the street from thiscollege campus we were working
at, and five minutes late andyou're right across the street,
I could see the Walmart.
So I hey you know, in my mindyou're thinking are you having
car troubles?
Are you needing gas?
Do you need to get a drink?
(27:42):
So I was like, hey, this is mynumber, call me.
So he calls me and I'm like,hey, you know, is everything
okay?
And he said, yeah, I'm walking.
I said you're walking here, andhe said, yeah, I'm walking
there.
I said, well, just hold on,I'll come get you.
So I went and picked him up andgot to talking to him and he
(28:13):
had walked about four and a halfmiles over there to work.
He walked four and a half milesjogged whatever.
Yeah, four and a half miles towork.
We got to talking a little moreand he was working two other
jobs as well.
So he had just moved to Tulsafrom out of town where he had
been in a bunch of trouble.
He was trying to get his lifecleaned up but he needed money
(28:36):
so he could pay off somewarrants and things.
He was working two jobs andwalked about four and a half
miles to come work with meTearing up flooring Not just
some easy job, flipping burgersor anything.
I mean we were tearing abasketball court out that had
(28:56):
flooded.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
So it was hard work.
So I took him home and I said,hey, you want to work tomorrow?
He said, yeah, I'll worktomorrow, Showed up to his house
, picked him up, brought himback to work and very hard
worker, and at the end of thatweek I told him man, you're
hired.
Yeah, that's it you didn't quitthose other jobs or whatever, I
(29:20):
don't care, you're hired.
And I just told him.
I said I don't know, I don'tknow.
I probably couldn't name youfive people if I was being
honest, that would walk.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
To go do a job while working two other jobs.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
If I'm being honest, I don't know that I would.
I don't know if I've everwalked five miles in my whole
life.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Donovan's still at four and a half.
Yeah, but this young man, hewas determined.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yeah, he was going to get his life clean, right.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
And he worked for me for quite a while, but I don't
know just as a boss, you know,looking at somebody like that,
seeing the determination, thedrive that he had, made me want
to be better.
Oh yeah, this guy that's makinga few bucks an hour, he wasn't
(30:22):
benefiting much.
I mean he was making money offof it, but it wasn't like I was
trying to give him Right.
That's the definition ofdetermined.
Absolutely I mean diligent.
This kid was not lazy in theleast bit.
(30:42):
If you told him, I guarantee Icould have asked him, said hey,
man, what time are you gettingoff work?
Are you getting off at 6?
Okay, I'll pick you up at 6.15from your work and we'll go.
And he'd have been there, hisclothes would have been changed
and he'd have been sitting therewaiting on me.
And the reason I guarantee hewould have done that is because
(31:07):
a couple times I went and pickedhim up at like 7 o'clock in the
morning and he looked wore out,yeah, and he'd be like man, is
there any way we can stop byQuick Trip.
I'm like, yeah, let's go.
So we'd go in there and he'dget a little bite to eat and
we'd get to the job and he'dtake off and come to find out he
(31:28):
got off at six o'clock and Ipicked him up at seven to go to
work that kid was an aunt, yeah,yeah, and I think we come up
with a lot of excuses not to dojust that.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
You know, and most of you like I'm not trying to be
harsh, big bad John over here,being mean, but you know, if
you're physically unable, that'sone thing.
If you're physically able, mostof you don't have warrants that
you're having to pay off.
Most of you don't have a ton ofdebt that you're having to pay
off.
Some of you just need to getsome grind in you, get some grit
(32:10):
in you.
Some of you just need to go.
I mean, you talked about thisman walking five miles.
Some of you don't walk fivemiles.
In a week, two weeks, threeweeks.
I've walked more than fivemiles in my life.
I was just teasing.
It's been a long time, though5.3.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
I've walked 5.1 miles All life.
I was just teasing.
It's been a long time, though,5.3.
Yeah, I've walked 5.1 miles.
All right, let's just.
But to come up with so manyexcuses is a sluggard mentality.
It's a mentality that is lazy.
Blaming everybody else, that'sa sluggard mentality.
Nobody can do anything to stopyou from raising money, from
(32:50):
helping people who are hurting,from doing a work for God, from
doing something right whereyou're at.
You're like man, there'snothing here, there's nobody to
help me.
Cool, do it anyway.
Eventually, somebody will comealong and help you.
Do it anyway.
Maybe nobody will come alongand help you.
Do it anyway.
Do it Anyway.
Maybe nobody will come alongand help you.
Do it anyway.
Do it Because that's whatyou're called to do.
(33:10):
We are called to be andconsider and be like the aunt,
brother Sean.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
We need to take care of ourselves as well.
I know we're talking a lotabout not being lazy and going
and doing and Brother Jonathanhas already mentioned this but
we need to take care ofourselves as well.
Yeah, right, everything needscare and maintenance.
Yeah, if you slack off onanything, it's going to
(33:37):
deteriorate and fall apart.
Right, homes, vehicles,marriages, your Christian walk,
your personal body they needcare and maintenance.
Laziness will cause us to saytomorrow or this weekend, but
(34:02):
determination will say why nottoday?
But we have to take care ofourselves.
Action is necessary for ourlives today, but we have to take
care of ourselves.
Action is necessary for ourlives.
Without it, we fail.
Everything in our life needsaction.
If you get up in the morning,you have to get out of bed.
(34:25):
That's action.
When you go to get in yourvehicle, you have to push on the
brake, you have to put it ingear.
You have to get out of bed.
That's action.
When you go to get in yourvehicle, you have to push on the
brake, you have to put it ingear.
You have to accelerate Action.
Everything we do requiresaction.
So if I could encourage anybody, it's take action, spiritually,
(34:46):
physically, mentally.
Just take some action.
It will pay off in the end.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Absolutely Well.
I want to thank everybody Idon't know that you got it,
that's everybody for listeningin those who have supported us.
A couple things to announce.
Obviously, we've got the mugs$25.
The Everyday Christian Podcastmugs really great.
They keep your water cold for,like I don't know, 24 hours or
something like that.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
No, it might be only like nine hours, I can't
remember hey this is going tosound like I'm just trying to
build this up, but I'm going totell this for real.
So we went into church Ibelieve it was last Sunday, and
my wife has some cup I don'tknow what kind it is and she had
a coffee in there and I had acoffee of mine.
(35:37):
They were both iced coffees.
We got out and she grabbed itand took a drink of hers and all
the ice had melted in it.
It was like 80 degrees outsideand I grabbed my cup and looked
in there and it was still halffull of ice.
Oh so, on the way to go getlunch, I'm sitting there just
drinking my iced coffee andshe's just like you're stupid.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
I said, I know it, but I just love it.
But, yes, they do really work.
25 that includes.
That includes shipping.
They work great.
There is another thing.
I don't have the sign up, butvirtual youth classes.
We are going to be startingthose probably June 11th that's
a Thursday so if you areinterested in that, please
(36:21):
message us, let us know andwe'll get you included in that.
I actually wanted to end thisepisode, but it's so cool.
He snuck around and he got theuh, the virtual, the virtual
classes.
Uh, a little poster board thingthere.
I need to.
I should have had it behind me.
No, you're good on the otherone, uh, but yeah, if you want
to, if you want to join thoseclasses, let me know.
(36:42):
Uh, message us and we'll.
We'd be happy to help you there.
There's a lot of questions thatteens have asked, and even
adults I've had some 30 yearolds want to know some things.
So we're going to, we're goingto do that.
It's going to be really great.
I did want to end this episode.
You know this, this podcastepisode.
Most of you probably know ofthe horrific tragedy that
(37:07):
happened last week in thekilling of Davy and Natalie
Lloyd there in Haiti.
I just wanted to take a momenthere in the end of this episode
to just honor them and to telleveryone that we honor them and
(37:28):
are thankful for the work thatthey did while in Haiti and
thankful for the sacrifice thatthey made.
I'm thankful for you know, Iknew her.
I didn't know him very well.
I know their family very, verywell, but to see that come
across the news, it makes youwant to hold your loved ones
tighter because you just neverknow when something or if
(37:51):
something like that could happen.
But I wanted to end this andsay that we honor them, we thank
them for their work and arethankful to know that they're in
God's hands now.
But at the end as well, we wantto just say that for the Lloyd
family, for the Baker family,for the Thomas family, for
(38:12):
everybody all the family andfriends that are included in
that that we care about you, welove you, we're praying for you.
If there's anything you everneed, we're just a phone call,
text message, facebook messageaway and we want to let you know
that and we love and appreciateyou all.
If you are listening to this,take a moment and pray for the
(38:32):
Lloyd family.
Take a moment and pray for theBaker family.
That God will comfort themduring this time, brother Sean.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
No, we do appreciate them.
They're a great family.
I've never actually had thechance to meet Davey and Natalie
, but I've met a lot of theirfamily over the years.
I may have met Natalie when shewas younger, but not that I'm
aware of.
(39:00):
But very good people and we areheartbroken with them.
But we do love and appreciatethe family as well and we do
continue to pray for them aswell, as I'm sure a lot of you
all are.
But just continue to not tryingto compare myself to them in
(39:27):
any way.
I'm not trying to comparemyself to them in any way, but I
lost my father-in-law.
He lived about a half a milefrom me and I lost him in
September of last year.
I was one of the ones that wasthere when it all happened or
(39:50):
just right after it had happened.
But you don't realize, and evenmore so for them but you don't.
You know oftentimes the hurt,the sadness.
You know, even for us, that.
You know we get up and we seeFacebook posts and stuff about
(40:11):
it.
We hurt again, but that lingersfar beyond just those few days.
You know the funeral we had formy father-in-law was a week
after he passed and that oneweek was just miserable and
(40:31):
horrible, but people began toheal.
You know the ones that aren'tas close.
You know they healed a lotquicker, yeah, but for us that
nightmare was still there,because you had to get up and
realize that.
You know his truck's still onthe drive, yeah, and one can
(40:52):
only imagine what they'redealing with.
You know, we've all I'm surewe've all had different thoughts
and fears like that.
Come along, but just continuethroughout the next months you
know, the next year whatever, ifyou can put them on your prayer
list.
Yes, you know that that missionwork I'm sure is going to go on.
(41:15):
Yeah, put that mission work onyour list yeah you know, brother
, brother, jude, never met him.
Put that family on your list,right, because they're going to
need it.
Right, not just this week, butfor a long time to come.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
And at the end of this episode I'm actually going
to.
I'll put a link in thedescription below in our
different platforms to where youcan go and donate to those
ministries as well.
There's a GoFundMe up for, Ithink, all three or another,
maybe just the two familymembers, I'm not sure, but I'll
get the info and I'll add it onthere as well.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
I believe the ones for Brother Jude was the
missionsinhatedcom.
I think if you go directly totheir website, but we will get
all that up.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
Yeah, we'll put those links up for you.
But yeah, we want to thankeverybody for listening, for
joining in again.
Again, you're listening to theEveryday Christian Podcast,
where we apply scripturalprinciples to everyday Christian
lives, and we want to thank youagain and say God bless, god
bless you all.
Thank you you.
You work, you prepare , you provide, you know.
When you see these types ofthings, you're really left up
with two choices Do you keepdreaming about it or do you get
after it.
Yeah, Welcome back to theEveryday Christian Podcast,
(00:31):
where we apply scripturalprinciples to everyday Christian
lives.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I'm Sean Sloggett and I'm John Rich, and today we are
going to talk about something alittle bit differently.
Sean, laziness I don't reallyhave a fancy title, but laziness
is what we want to discusstoday in this episode.
That's laziness, fancy title,but laziness is what we want to
discuss today in this episode.
It's lazy before, yeah, it'slazy.
You know, we had some lazy.
Uh, it's a lazy podcast.
I guess, if you will, we shouldwear PJs.
(00:57):
I do have to promote somethingyou guys are probably aware of
Boom, the everyday Christianpodcast.
Mugs, cups, what do you callthem?
Tumblers.
That's it for $25.
You can get this shipped toyour door.
It is the Everyday ChristianPodcast.
Please buy one of those.
Support the show, support ourcause, support what we're doing
and obviously that money will gotowards the podcast, amongst
(01:18):
other mission works.
So if you do want to buy one ofthose, just send us a message.
You can send it on Facebook,whatever platform you want to,
to get a hold of us and we willsend that out to you.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I'm going to start us off by reading a few scriptures
here.
Proverbs 6 and 6, Go to theaunt, thou sluggard, consider
her ways and be wise.
Proverbs 13 and 4, the soul ofthe sluggard desireth and hath
nothing, but the soul of thediligent shall be made fat.
And Ecclesiastes 10 and 18, bymuch slothfulness the building
(01:56):
decayeth, and through idlenessof the hands the house droppeth
through Brother Jonathan.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
You know there's even more on that Proverbs 6 I was
thinking about.
There's a lot that goes intothat.
You all know that scripture.
Consider the ant, oh, sluggard,and I'm going to show you sort
of the contrast between thesluggard and the ant in this
episode.
I'm probably going to talk waytoo much about ants and I know
(02:25):
now way too much about ants, soit's really interesting there.
But oftentimes when we I thinkwe read that scripture, what we
think of is a lazy person versusa non-lazy person and that's a,
that's a pretty.
You know, basic like that.
That is essentially what thatscripture says.
But there there is a little bitdeeper thought into it.
(02:46):
You know, when we talk aboutthe Anne O Slugger, consider her
ways, be wise.
Without having any chiefofficer or ruler, she prepares
her bread in summer and gathersher food in the harvest.
There's a lot to that.
How will you sleep there?
How long will you sleep there,o Slugger?
When will you arise from yoursleep?
A little sleep, a littleslumber, a little folding of the
(03:06):
hands to rest, and poverty willcome upon you like a robber and
want like an armed man.
You know there's a lot tounpack there in those verses,
but the main idea is this.
I'm not certain who said it,but I believe it perfectly
summarizes this verse.
It says a lack of diligenceleads to a steady and
unrelenting stream of poverty.
(03:27):
The things about ants is thatthey not only work hard, but
they work diligently hard,brother Sean.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Yeah, proverbs does speak a couple different times
of laziness.
These you know, for example,and the ant is one that's always
kind of intriguing when youread up on it.
We've heard several ministersand teachers, I'm sure, teach on
them, but their work ethicseems to be impeccable.
(03:57):
It seems like they're always onthe go.
They're always working togetherOn the go.
Yeah, they're always workingtogether.
That's something that stood outto me is, when you see them,
most of the time there's a wholeline of them going on, and
there's science.
There's several things behindthat as well, yeah, and the fact
(04:18):
that they make good use oftheir time, yeah, that's what's
big.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I think here is the diligence.
The word diligence is huge oftheir time.
Yeah, that's what's big.
I think here is the diligence.
You know the diligent.
The word diligence is huge andit it makes you know.
When I think of an ant, I thinkof diligence because it's
someone who is careful andpersistent in work and in effort
.
It's a strategic work.
It's not just I'm going to usethe word sporadically a couple
of times here, but it's not justa work that is sporadically,
(04:43):
but they have patterns, theyhave forms.
Sometimes those patterns change, but for the most part they
stay the same and they form.
But a sluggard, on the otherhand, I'm showing you those
contrasts.
But I want to show youdifferent contrasts with the ant
.
But as described here inProverbs, is one who is lazy,
sleepy or slow moving.
They're not alert.
(05:05):
Oftentimes what I find, brotherSean, and we're talking about
what Proverbs calls a sluggardand what Proverbs calls an ant.
So when you hear me say theword sluggard, just know I'm
talking about lazy people.
And when you see or hear me saythe word ant, just know that
I'm talking about diligent,hardworking, consistent people.
(05:25):
I want to make that knownbefore you're like man, they're
just talking about ants.
I'm not doing that.
I'm talking about you.
Some of you so.
But but oftentimes what I findbrother Sean is a sluggard
watches an ant with jealousyinstead of with a willingness to
learn from it.
But you never have an antwatching a slugger or someone
(05:49):
with an ant mentality watching alazy person, because that ant
mentality is mission minded.
It doesn't quit or rest untilthe mission is over, at least
for that day.
The crazy thing about all thiswe always see ants moving all
the time.
You know, if you've ever beenoutside and you've played in the
dirt and you've seen thoselittle piles, and I think every
(06:11):
one of us have probably put ourfoot like down in it or like
moved it with a stick orsomething.
And then all of a sudden, thesehundreds and hundreds of
thousands of ants come out ofnowhere.
But they are inside of thosethose dirt piles, working.
Okay, they are gathering food,they're trying to do all these
things.
But the crazy thing about antsyou know, we always think that,
(06:32):
to be someone who's moving andalways doing something, they
actually do rest, they do sleep.
People don't realize that whenyou think about the ant and
that's the contrast I was tryingto talk about.
We think we have to be doingwork all the time, 24-7.
We never get a break, we neverget a siesta, we never get a
(06:53):
time away from the mission, andthat's just not true.
We can have times of rest.
We can have times of what theycall sabbaticals.
You know, we can't have timesof being away from the ministry
for a period of time.
There's nothing wrong with that.
I want you to understand that.
I want you to realize that whenwe consider the ant and her
ways, you need to consider theant and all of her ways, not
(07:13):
just the work, the hard thingsthat they do.
There's a lot to unpack,there's a lot to do there, but
there's also the rest.
Rest is needed in the work ofthe God.
Rest is needed in yourday-to-day life.
Maybe you do just a simple job.
Maybe you're not someone with atitle or a ministry or whatever
(07:35):
.
Maybe you're a mechanic oryou're a computer nerd like me,
you know, maybe you're somethinglike that, but you still need
rest from some of the things.
But here is the kicker you needrest from things that you're
working hard on so that you canbounce back and do more.
So you can bounce back and dobetter.
A lazy person rests all the time.
(07:57):
A lazy person doesn't careabout the work so long as they
get the glory for it.
A lazy person has a mentalitythat it's me, me, me, me, me, I,
I, I, I, I, and doesn't careabout anyone else around them.
There's nothing wrong withsleeping, there's nothing wrong
with resting.
Jesus did that.
But when we think of thesluggard or the lazy, they're
(08:20):
always quick or slow to get up.
Their brains don't function asquickly, they aren't as quick as
others and most of the time,instead of blaming themselves,
they blame those who work hardand try to do a work for God or
try to provide for theirfamilies.
Brother Sean, Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
You know the motivation behind the ants has
inspired people for thousands ofyears.
Yeah, you know in so much thatit's mentioned multiple times
throughout the bible.
You know, in proverb 6 we'retalking about, we see the, the
writer, telling people go outand study this tiny, just
(08:58):
minuscule.
I mean, what are they?
Maybe a quarter inch long, ifthat Depends?
Yeah, I mean just the smallestlittle things.
Saying go out and study them,consider its motivation,
consider its work ethic,consider its togetherness,
consider all these things aboutit.
(09:18):
And you said something just aminute ago.
You said to consider all of it,not just one part of it.
Right, and I feel like that'swhat we need to do.
Ants are very busy, but intheir busyness they're
accomplishing something becausethey're all together.
(09:40):
It's everything about them.
We all know people that arebusybodies as well.
Yeah, and on the flip side oflaziness, just because you're a
busybody doesn't necessarilymean you're doing things either.
Right, and I believe thatbecause I know some people that
work very hard at being lazy.
(10:03):
Yeah, it's kind of weird tothink of it that way, but we all
know some people like that.
Yeah, we will do extra work toget out of having to do what we
were told to do because we don'twant to do it or it's too hard.
So we try figuring out how toget around it, and oftentimes we
(10:24):
probably work harder gettingout of something that we do.
So just because you're a busybody doesn't necessarily mean
that you're not lazy, but thattogether and everything about
the ant is what helps it getthere.
You know they prepare.
Part of the reason they do whatthey do is because they are
(10:44):
preparing for the bad times forthose things to come.
Right, you know they feel thecold air moving in around
harvest time so they start theyactually eat more.
I don't know exactly what, butyou know they start like
building their bodies up toprepare for those kind of things
and getting themselves readyfor it.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, it's something that you said.
The word motivation, it's.
What is their motivation?
Obviously, if you don't knowthis, an ant's motivation is to
protect and help the queen antLike.
That's what they strive for.
They want to get food.
They've got scavengers, they'vegot different people, different
ants working to do something,and that's what's beautiful
(11:28):
about it too.
You don't have to be the same.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
You don't have to be the queen ant.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Well, no, it's exactly what I, what I was
getting at, you know, in thisscenario.
To me, you know, when you talkabout doing a work for god, um,
that queen ant represents to megod.
You know, it represents thework of god.
You know, we're all doing itwith, with a mission in mind,
and we all rely on each other.
We can't do it on our own.
The lazy sluggard has themindset that I can do it on my
(12:01):
own and I better get praised fordoing it on my own.
Or I'm going to do this littlebit over here, even though these
people over here are doing tonsof things, tons of works for
God, tons of things that thatare great.
If I do this little thing overhere, I hope I get recognized
for it or some sort ofrecognition for it, and that's
(12:22):
not the right mindset.
That's not an ant mindset.
An ant mindset is doing thingsfor God with one another, with
other people that all havedifferent walks of life, they
come from different backgrounds,they all do something
differently and they do itwithout caring who gets credit
for it On the flip side not theflip, but on the secular, the
(12:46):
worldly side of that.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
You know me being somebody who is self-employed, I
do.
I do pressure washing, junkremoval cleanup style stuff.
Yeah, demo work, some lightthings like that.
I know winters are going to getvery slow for me.
Yeah, nobody wants their housepressure washed when it's 30
degrees and snowing outside.
(13:07):
That's just part of life.
So I try to work hard and saveup as much as I can, because I
know that when it starts coolingoff things are going to fall
off.
You know I don't just lay aroundall summer long hoping and
waiting that maybe hopefullysome work will come in, or
(13:28):
hopefully this.
You know I'm not waiting onUncle Sam to help take care of
me during the winter.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Because he's, because you'd be done for he's failed
me already.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
But you know, you work, you prepare, you provide,
you know, when you see thesetypes of things, uh, you're,
you're, you.
You're really left up with twochoices do you keep dreaming
about it or do you get after it.
You know, we talk about wantingmission works, wanting to start
(14:09):
bus ministries, wanting to helpthe homeless, wanting to do all
these things, and we dreamabout it and dream about it, and
dream about it, and dream aboutit, and dream about it.
Right, and all of a sudden,it's five years down the road
and guess what?
We're still wanting a busministry, we're still wanting to
(14:29):
do whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yeah, I've been to a lot of churches like that,
Unfortunately with that samemindset.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
The lazy man will keep dreaming about it while
sitting on his couch.
Yeah you're right, and thedetermined, diligent man will
chase after it.
When I wanted to start my ownbusiness, obviously I did things
.
I sat down, we looked atanalytics, we tried doing
different studies and differentthings to see if it was
(15:00):
something that would work for meand my family, but eventually I
had to act on it.
I had a 9 to 5 job, 10 to 6,really I had a 10 to 6 job, but
before 10 o'clock, if I wasn'tout talking to people
advertising after 6 o'clock, ifI wasn't out talking to people
(15:20):
advertising after six o'clock,if I wasn't out talking
advertising, picking up theselittle jobs, I'd have still been
sitting at home.
I feel like right now, two anda half years later right, not
quite two and a half years, butclose to it I'd still be sitting
on my couch thinking about man.
One of these days I'm going toown my own business.
(15:41):
Who knows, it may flop, yeah,but it's not going to flop, with
me sitting on the couch.
I'm chasing after it.
I got up, I pushed for it, Itried to see what I was active
in pursuing that dream.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
A lot of people have goals and visions.
I would say a majority ofpeople probably have those, but
the action is what separates theslugger from the ant.
You know you think about it.
Might've been your dad.
I can't remember who it was,but who I was talking to.
It's been a few years back.
But they said God bless hiseffort.
(16:17):
And that's so huge and it's beena few years back, but they said
God bless his effort.
And that's so huge.
And it's so true because noteverything about your business
has been perfect, not, you know.
Not everything has been just,you know, up high on the
mountain by any means.
And I I I say that about youbut, like a lot of you are
listening and I know I facethings where you know things
have failed or you knowministries haven't went quite as
(16:38):
how I thought they would go,but but you try and it's like
that effort that you put into it.
I believe that God honors that.
I believe that God blesses youfor that.
And there's times where youknow Brother Sean, you could
attest to this probably butyou're like, you're working hard
, you're grinding is what youknow, the new word nowadays you
know you're putting in the grind, you're doing all these things,
(17:00):
and even though you're puttingin the grind and the wheels are
spinning and it seems likeyou're not getting anywhere, but
then here comes something onthe side that comes in and it's
like God just gifts it to you.
But he didn't just gift it toyou.
It's not him just laying it on,laying it in your lap as a as a
present.
He's doing that because of theart of sowing and reaping.
(17:23):
He's doing that because if yousow good seed, you're going to
bring forth good fruit, and Ithink that that's so important.
You know, we talk about thedifference between a sluggard or
a lazy person and someone who'sant minded.
You know, someone who doesn'tblame others for everything
that's going on and I'll getinto that in a moment who
doesn't want all the glory, whodoesn't want people to feel
(17:46):
badly for them, but it's someonewho relies on the help of
everyone else.
They refuse to give up or giveany glory to themselves.
They aren't worried about howothers feel or think about them.
They aren't worried aboutbragging on what they've done.
They are just there to workhard and to help others along
the way.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
I asked this question a while back and I've continued
to ponder it and this will tieinto where you're talking about
right now and maybe help youjump into the rest of it.
But I've wondered if Christianculture has contributed to the
(18:25):
laziness in men and that's aharsh statement, I know it is,
but growing up we have heardwell, God will provide.
Yeah, and I believe he willHear me out on this.
Wait on God's timing.
(18:47):
In his perfect timing, he'llmake it happen.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
God will make a way.
And again, I understand and Iagree with these things.
But where is the teaching on?
But, whatsoever the handfindeth to do, do it Love with
(19:14):
all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind love with
all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind.
Do unto others as you'd havethem do unto you.
Not think, not dream, not hope,but do.
Yeah, we need God, we need hisdirection.
He will provide things for us,but he blesses effort.
(19:39):
And if we get to a point wherewe're sitting around waiting on
God's timing, waiting on him tomake a way, waiting on him to
open the door, and we're justsitting there twiddling our
thumbs, that is laziness.
(20:00):
Yeah, you know, I think I'veused this example before.
I think I used it here recently.
But you talk about a waiter.
You think of a waiter at arestaurant.
They don't go just sit in thecorner.
A good waiter I know there areothers, but a good waiter or
(20:20):
waitress is not going to just gosit over in the corner.
They're constantly movingthroughout the whole restaurant
because they've got 5, 10, 15tables, whatever, and they are
moving around.
Do you need a refill?
Do you need a refill?
Can I get that plate out ofyour way?
Would you like some more chipsand salsa?
(20:41):
What about?
Speaker 2 (20:43):
dessert, can I do?
Speaker 1 (20:44):
these?
Yeah, they are actively workingtowards their goal, which is
getting paid and getting a goodtip.
Yeah, if they sat over in thecorner, probably not going to
get that good of a tip Right.
But they're moving throughout,they're working, they're trying
to do something and I believethat when we're waiting on God
(21:06):
to provide, when we're waitingon his timing, what are we doing
?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
in the meantime.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Are we actively still moving about, trying to see
what we can do?
I'm not saying act on impulse,just go crazy and just hope it
all works.
We do need to prepare, we needto study, but you still have to
act.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
It just goes back and forth.
To that what I was mentioningearlier about doing the work.
You know, sometimes there'sgoing to be ministries that fail
.
I mean there's bound to beministries and works that fail.
But everything that you do, tome it's just a stepping stone to
(21:56):
something greater.
It's just a stepping stone tosomething greater.
And how are you ever going toget to the place where God wants
you, or to the work that Godwants you in, if you're not
doing anything to take thosesteps?
On those stepping stones youknow, think about.
I've mentioned this before manytimes, I'll just keep it brief
here.
But, like my life, like I thinkabout the little things that
(22:16):
lead me to where I am today.
I talked to the youth aboutthis last night.
It's like man, if I had thoughtat 15, I'd be where I am today
or I'd face some of the things Idid today, I'd probably want to
give up.
But little by little, likethrough my life, since I've
(22:36):
accepted Christ as my Savior andgrowing in Him and being
strengthened by Him, little bylittle it's just my faith in Him
has grown, but the work that Ido for Him has grown as well.
I've wanted and desire to domore.
You know the Bible says again Imentioned this to the teens
last night but the Bible saysthat all things work together
(22:58):
for the good to them who loveGod, who are called according to
his purpose.
You know God loves you, god hascalled you, there's works that
you can do and eventually thingsare going to work together.
You may not see, you knowwhatever it is, you feel like
God's called you or spoke to youabout.
Come to fruition right now.
But that doesn't mean you stop.
That doesn't mean you donothing.
(23:24):
That's a sluggard mentality.
But an ant mentality is we'regoing to keep working in this
anthill until it's time to moveon to the next anthill.
We're going to work in thatanthill until it's time to move
on to the bigger anthill andcontinually do that.
You know the reason why some ofyou can't grow your church or
strengthen your church isbecause you are sporadically
doing different random worksthat others have done or you can
think of and after two weeks ofnot seeing immediate results
(23:47):
you give up.
The reason why some of you livein poverty or don't live in a
state of fruitfulness we'retalking secular now is because
you don't have the grind,determination, grit or
consistency that the ant has.
I know that we're living intough times.
I know that everyone isstruggling.
I know that it seems likemaking and saving money is
(24:09):
harder now than it ever has beenbefore.
But I also know that there arepeople out there right now who
are not wealthy by any means,who are making it, who are
striving, who are saving.
You know that sluggardmentality says look at what the
government is doing, look at theprices of everything going up.
Look at the taxes.
Look at the rich, who are onlygetting richer.
Look at the things that JoeBiden is doing, while the ant
(24:30):
says I'm going to do everythingI can to make it.
I'm going to do everything Ican that my family will make it.
I'm going to do everything Ican to help others make it.
I'm going to do sacrifice somedays of enjoyment for a short
while so that I can be set up inthe long run.
No matter who Obama or Biden orBush is president, or Trump is
president he's in jail.
No, he's not in jail yet orTrump is president, it doesn't
(24:53):
matter.
We all go through differentfinancial things.
Yeah, it's probably worse thanit ever has been before, but
this is not the first time oureconomy has been bad.
This is not the first timewe've went through struggles.
There are people in the 30sthat have went through way worse
struggles than you're goingthrough right now.
I'm just saying it's not timeto put your head down and blame
(25:15):
everybody else.
It's time to get up, work, dosomething, put the grind in.
It may not be something you'regoing to forever do, but if you
put the grind in, it's going tobe a stepping stone for you to
do that in the future, brotherSean.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
I had a guy that worked for me for a little while
that we were tearing someflooring out and I got on
Facebook on a local page.
You said, hey, I need some help.
If anybody looking for any work, message me.
And I think the number over.
(25:53):
We started the job on a Friday,so on a Friday which we didn't
work Saturday and Sunday, but Ihad the post out.
So Friday, monday and Tuesday.
Over those days I had I believeit was 32 people reach out to
me and say, hey, we'reinterested in the job, can we
work, you know whatever and sayhey, we're interested in the job
(26:14):
, can we work whatever?
Out of those 32, I think therewas 15 said I'll be there.
So about half of them said I'llbe there.
Five of those 15 showed up.
(26:34):
Two of them showed up late butthey showed up and they worked.
Two of them showed up, workedabout 15, 20 minutes maybe Came
and shook my hand, said it wastoo hard and they were going
home.
The joys of owning a business.
Yeah, and one of them said I'llbe there at I think it was noon
(26:59):
because it was on Monday whenall the others kept falling
through.
He said I'll be there aboutnoon and he messaged me and said
, hey, I'll be there about noon.
And he messaged me and said,hey, I'll be five minutes late,
I'm trying to get there.
So I was like hey, where areyou at?
He said I'm fixing to come upto the Walmart which was right
(27:22):
across the street from thiscollege campus we were working
at, and five minutes late andyou're right across the street,
I could see the Walmart.
So I hey you know, in my mindyou're thinking are you having
car troubles?
Are you needing gas?
Do you need to get a drink?
(27:42):
So I was like, hey, this is mynumber, call me.
So he calls me and I'm like,hey, you know, is everything
okay?
And he said, yeah, I'm walking.
I said you're walking here, andhe said, yeah, I'm walking
there.
I said, well, just hold on,I'll come get you.
So I went and picked him up andgot to talking to him and he
(28:13):
had walked about four and a halfmiles over there to work.
He walked four and a half milesjogged whatever.
Yeah, four and a half miles towork.
We got to talking a little moreand he was working two other
jobs as well.
So he had just moved to Tulsafrom out of town where he had
been in a bunch of trouble.
He was trying to get his lifecleaned up but he needed money
(28:36):
so he could pay off somewarrants and things.
He was working two jobs andwalked about four and a half
miles to come work with meTearing up flooring Not just
some easy job, flipping burgersor anything.
I mean we were tearing abasketball court out that had
(28:56):
flooded.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
So it was hard work.
So I took him home and I said,hey, you want to work tomorrow?
He said, yeah, I'll worktomorrow, Showed up to his house
, picked him up, brought himback to work and very hard
worker, and at the end of thatweek I told him man, you're
hired.
Yeah, that's it you didn't quitthose other jobs or whatever, I
(29:20):
don't care, you're hired.
And I just told him.
I said I don't know, I don'tknow.
I probably couldn't name youfive people if I was being
honest, that would walk.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
To go do a job while working two other jobs.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
If I'm being honest, I don't know that I would.
I don't know if I've everwalked five miles in my whole
life.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Donovan's still at four and a half.
Yeah, but this young man, hewas determined.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yeah, he was going to get his life clean, right.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
And he worked for me for quite a while, but I don't
know just as a boss, you know,looking at somebody like that,
seeing the determination, thedrive that he had, made me want
to be better.
Oh yeah, this guy that's makinga few bucks an hour, he wasn't
(30:22):
benefiting much.
I mean he was making money offof it, but it wasn't like I was
trying to give him Right.
That's the definition ofdetermined.
Absolutely I mean diligent.
This kid was not lazy in theleast bit.
(30:42):
If you told him, I guarantee Icould have asked him, said hey,
man, what time are you gettingoff work?
Are you getting off at 6?
Okay, I'll pick you up at 6.15from your work and we'll go.
And he'd have been there, hisclothes would have been changed
and he'd have been sitting therewaiting on me.
And the reason I guarantee hewould have done that is because
(31:07):
a couple times I went and pickedhim up at like 7 o'clock in the
morning and he looked wore out,yeah, and he'd be like man, is
there any way we can stop byQuick Trip.
I'm like, yeah, let's go.
So we'd go in there and he'dget a little bite to eat and
we'd get to the job and he'dtake off and come to find out he
(31:28):
got off at six o'clock and Ipicked him up at seven to go to
work that kid was an aunt, yeah,yeah, and I think we come up
with a lot of excuses not to dojust that.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
You know, and most of you like I'm not trying to be
harsh, big bad John over here,being mean, but you know, if
you're physically unable, that'sone thing.
If you're physically able, mostof you don't have warrants that
you're having to pay off.
Most of you don't have a ton ofdebt that you're having to pay
off.
Some of you just need to getsome grind in you, get some grit
(32:10):
in you.
Some of you just need to go.
I mean, you talked about thisman walking five miles.
Some of you don't walk fivemiles.
In a week, two weeks, threeweeks.
I've walked more than fivemiles in my life.
I was just teasing.
It's been a long time, though5.3.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
I've walked 5.1 miles All life.
I was just teasing.
It's been a long time, though,5.3.
Yeah, I've walked 5.1 miles.
All right, let's just.
But to come up with so manyexcuses is a sluggard mentality.
It's a mentality that is lazy.
Blaming everybody else, that'sa sluggard mentality.
Nobody can do anything to stopyou from raising money, from
(32:50):
helping people who are hurting,from doing a work for God, from
doing something right whereyou're at.
You're like man, there'snothing here, there's nobody to
help me.
Cool, do it anyway.
Eventually, somebody will comealong and help you.
Do it anyway.
Maybe nobody will come alongand help you.
Do it anyway.
Do it Anyway.
Maybe nobody will come alongand help you.
Do it anyway.
Do it Because that's whatyou're called to do.
(33:10):
We are called to be andconsider and be like the aunt,
brother Sean.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
We need to take care of ourselves as well.
I know we're talking a lotabout not being lazy and going
and doing and Brother Jonathanhas already mentioned this but
we need to take care ofourselves as well.
Yeah, right, everything needscare and maintenance.
Yeah, if you slack off onanything, it's going to
(33:37):
deteriorate and fall apart.
Right, homes, vehicles,marriages, your Christian walk,
your personal body they needcare and maintenance.
Laziness will cause us to saytomorrow or this weekend, but
(34:02):
determination will say why nottoday?
But we have to take care ofourselves.
Action is necessary for ourlives today, but we have to take
care of ourselves.
Action is necessary for ourlives.
Without it, we fail.
Everything in our life needsaction.
If you get up in the morning,you have to get out of bed.
(34:25):
That's action.
When you go to get in yourvehicle, you have to push on the
brake, you have to put it ingear.
You have to get out of bed.
That's action.
When you go to get in yourvehicle, you have to push on the
brake, you have to put it ingear.
You have to accelerate Action.
Everything we do requiresaction.
So if I could encourage anybody, it's take action, spiritually,
(34:46):
physically, mentally.
Just take some action.
It will pay off in the end.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Absolutely Well.
I want to thank everybody Idon't know that you got it,
that's everybody for listeningin those who have supported us.
A couple things to announce.
Obviously, we've got the mugs$25.
The Everyday Christian Podcastmugs really great.
They keep your water cold for,like I don't know, 24 hours or
something like that.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
No, it might be only like nine hours, I can't
remember hey this is going tosound like I'm just trying to
build this up, but I'm going totell this for real.
So we went into church Ibelieve it was last Sunday, and
my wife has some cup I don'tknow what kind it is and she had
a coffee in there and I had acoffee of mine.
(35:37):
They were both iced coffees.
We got out and she grabbed itand took a drink of hers and all
the ice had melted in it.
It was like 80 degrees outsideand I grabbed my cup and looked
in there and it was still halffull of ice.
Oh so, on the way to go getlunch, I'm sitting there just
drinking my iced coffee andshe's just like you're stupid.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
I said, I know it, but I just love it.
But, yes, they do really work.
25 that includes.
That includes shipping.
They work great.
There is another thing.
I don't have the sign up, butvirtual youth classes.
We are going to be startingthose probably June 11th that's
a Thursday so if you areinterested in that, please
(36:21):
message us, let us know andwe'll get you included in that.
I actually wanted to end thisepisode, but it's so cool.
He snuck around and he got theuh, the virtual, the virtual
classes.
Uh, a little poster board thingthere.
I need to.
I should have had it behind me.
No, you're good on the otherone, uh, but yeah, if you want
to, if you want to join thoseclasses, let me know.
(36:42):
Uh, message us and we'll.
We'd be happy to help you there.
There's a lot of questions thatteens have asked, and even
adults I've had some 30 yearolds want to know some things.
So we're going to, we're goingto do that.
It's going to be really great.
I did want to end this episode.
You know this, this podcastepisode.
Most of you probably know ofthe horrific tragedy that
(37:07):
happened last week in thekilling of Davy and Natalie
Lloyd there in Haiti.
I just wanted to take a momenthere in the end of this episode
to just honor them and to telleveryone that we honor them and
(37:28):
are thankful for the work thatthey did while in Haiti and
thankful for the sacrifice thatthey made.
I'm thankful for you know, Iknew her.
I didn't know him very well.
I know their family very, verywell, but to see that come
across the news, it makes youwant to hold your loved ones
tighter because you just neverknow when something or if
(37:51):
something like that could happen.
But I wanted to end this andsay that we honor them, we thank
them for their work and arethankful to know that they're in
God's hands now.
But at the end as well, we wantto just say that for the Lloyd
family, for the Baker family,for the Thomas family, for
(38:12):
everybody all the family andfriends that are included in
that that we care about you, welove you, we're praying for you.
If there's anything you everneed, we're just a phone call,
text message, facebook messageaway and we want to let you know
that and we love and appreciateyou all.
If you are listening to this,take a moment and pray for the
(38:32):
Lloyd family.
Take a moment and pray for theBaker family.
That God will comfort themduring this time, brother Sean.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
No, we do appreciate them.
They're a great family.
I've never actually had thechance to meet Davey and Natalie
, but I've met a lot of theirfamily over the years.
I may have met Natalie when shewas younger, but not that I'm
aware of.
(39:00):
But very good people and we areheartbroken with them.
But we do love and appreciatethe family as well and we do
continue to pray for them aswell, as I'm sure a lot of you
all are.
But just continue to not tryingto compare myself to them in
(39:27):
any way.
I'm not trying to comparemyself to them in any way, but I
lost my father-in-law.
He lived about a half a milefrom me and I lost him in
September of last year.
I was one of the ones that wasthere when it all happened or
(39:50):
just right after it had happened.
But you don't realize, and evenmore so for them but you don't.
You know oftentimes the hurt,the sadness.
You know, even for us, that.
You know we get up and we seeFacebook posts and stuff about
(40:11):
it.
We hurt again, but that lingersfar beyond just those few days.
You know the funeral we had formy father-in-law was a week
after he passed and that oneweek was just miserable and
(40:31):
horrible, but people began toheal.
You know the ones that aren'tas close.
You know they healed a lotquicker, yeah, but for us that
nightmare was still there,because you had to get up and
realize that.
You know his truck's still onthe drive, yeah, and one can
(40:52):
only imagine what they'redealing with.
You know, we've all I'm surewe've all had different thoughts
and fears like that.
Come along, but just continuethroughout the next months you
know, the next year whatever, ifyou can put them on your prayer
list.
Yes, you know that that missionwork I'm sure is going to go on.
(41:15):
Yeah, put that mission work onyour list yeah you know, brother
, brother, jude, never met him.
Put that family on your list,right, because they're going to
need it.
Right, not just this week, butfor a long time to come.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
And at the end of this episode I'm actually going
to.
I'll put a link in thedescription below in our
different platforms to where youcan go and donate to those
ministries as well.
There's a GoFundMe up for, Ithink, all three or another,
maybe just the two familymembers, I'm not sure, but I'll
get the info and I'll add it onthere as well.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
I believe the ones for Brother Jude was the
missionsinhatedcom.
I think if you go directly totheir website, but we will get
all that up.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
Yeah, we'll put those links up for you.
But yeah, we want to thankeverybody for listening, for
joining in again.
Again, you're listening to theEveryday Christian Podcast,
where we apply scripturalprinciples to everyday Christian
lives, and we want to thank youagain and say God bless, god
bless you all.
Thank you you.
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