A Commentary on Proverbs 13:4

"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat."- Proverbs 13:4

It is in fact pretty common today that there are many who desire and don't work at all.  As said, there is nothing wrong with aiming high but compromising values is another issue.  The issue here is the lazy and the diligent.  Many desire to improve but don't even strive at all.  Many go for the tragic mentality of "let fate decide" or "I'll just wait for lady luck." but in the end, they always end up with nothing.  

There are people today who desire good things but don't work hard at all.  It can be seen by these examples:

  • Many students want to get high grades but they do not study hard.  Instead they spend too much time with their leisure activities and don't blame themselves for their own failures.  They don't even do their projects which could help them.
  • Some laborers never get anywhere because they were too lazy to find money to go to school.  Then they dream of becoming rich with all but preposterous talk.  After earning a week's salary, they go drinking and feasting which shows they never save the money for a rainy day.  
  • Some farmers can be very stupid too especially in the third world countries.  They plant but they do not take care of the crops.  When it's harvest, they do not harvest.  How can they earn the money they want?

The examples above can be very real.  On the other hand, the diligent get better with their work.  Here are some examples:

  • The late Presbyterian Christian, William Colgate wasn't always rich.  In fact, he was an apprentice in the boiler.  However by hard work and dedication, he and his colleagues created the Colgate brand.
  • Certain people may not be billionaires or living fancy, however they got out of poverty and live in a modest lifestyle of being able to eat decent food and have a decent house to live in because they worked hard for it.  Some of these people also include fiery preachers like Jack Hyles, Estus Pirkle, Armie F. Jesalva, Bob Hughes and Bob Gray.
  • Some people used to be bad students in high school after they strove hard, became better students and doing better academically because they got out of their laziness.
  • A laborer because he saves money has been able to give his children a better education which he never had because of his hard work.  In turn, his children earn more than he can which is a blessing for him when he is old.

By looking at these, it's always best to work hard but of course keeping this in mind in Proverbs 30:8 that one should just aim for neither poverty or riches and the LORD will do the rest.