The sluggard, meaning the person who is passive, lazy, and underachieving, always has an excuse for not being pro-active. As I thought about this proverb, what came to mind is the spiritually lazy person. The sluggard who won't make any effort to grow spiritually. All of us can relate to being spiritually sluggish. We fail...
We fail... to get into God's Word because we sleep in .
We fail... to pray before bed because we watch too much TV then fall asleep before praying.
We fail... to stand up for what is right, because we are too fearful of what others may think.
We are really good at coming up with excuses for our sluggishness, and often it is exactly as the sluggard says, we are fearful of what lays beyond. We are afraid that indeed there may be great harm outside..."in the streets". The mystery of stepping out into the unknown can be very frightening. Can your spiritual sluggishness be traced back to fear? Fear of trusting God with your life. Fear of what friends/parents/siblings may think. Fear of changing. Fear that God may require something of you that you don't want to give up. So like the sluggard we craft excuses, some are fabricated and completely false...others are true.
Indeed there is a lion in the streets. "The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." I Peter 5:8b Peter's advice is not to flee the lion or avoid the streets, but rather to be "watchful" and "sober-minded". Our fears ought not hamper us from getting after the business of following Christ. We must not be sluggish in our pursuit of God, but vigilant. Peter goes on to say, "Resist him." Resist the lion and his schemes. Step out into the streets ready to resist. But be warned...
You can't do it. That's right. You cannot resist this prowling lion. You will falter before him and his schemes every time, just as Peter did on the night he denied Jesus...when you resist him with all your might. However when you have surrendered to Jesus Christ and the power of His Spirit dwells in you, you are able to stand. There may be a lion in the streets, there may be fear in your heart, but you have all powerful savior on your side.
"Resist him (the lion), firm in your faith." I Peter 5:9
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