If you caught a magic goldfish, what would you ask for, and why is your list of unfulfilled wishes still so long? This sermon turns to a father’s advice to his son in Proverbs: go to the ant, watch her ways and become wise (Proverbs 6). It speaks bluntly about laziness as a kind of spiritual formation, about work that was never meant to be a curse, and about the selective laziness of very busy people. Listen, and ask what you are storing up for the winter that is bound to come.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Proverbs 6:6-11 the father tells the sluggard to consider the ant, which stores up food in summer without any commander or overseer. What exactly is he meant to learn from her, and why would this picture make sense to the first hearers?
- The text says poverty will come like a vagrant and scarcity like an armed robber. What does this image say about the results of putting things off and small compromises like "a little sleep, a little slumber"?
- The sermon pointed out that God worked in creation and gave humans the task of tending the garden of Eden before the fall. How does that change the way you see the work you do every day?
- The speaker described "selective laziness": being very busy while neglecting your relationship with God, your loved ones and your own character. In which area of your life do you recognise this kind of selective lack of effort?
- The sermon spoke of winter arriving as a hard decision, illness or suffering, and of a storehouse that may turn out to be empty. What do you want to fill your storehouse with so you have wisdom, peace and hope for such a time?
- What one small daily habit could you start this week so that, instead of waiting for a "golden fish", you build your tomorrow with God?
