Proverbs 20:4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. The present is intimately related to the future; and the future will faithfully reflect the character. Here is a principle from the operation of which none can escape. Life stands in the same relation to eternity as the time of ploughing does to the harvest. If this life is spent in neglect of the soul, there will be eternal poverty. I. LIFE'S PLOUGHING-TIME, OR THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION. 1. Note, that life is the seed-time is universally recognised and taught. The armer knows the time for preparing the soil, and is himself responsible if he does not improve it. 2. The ploughing-time is short, not too long if it is all well spent; the seasons quickly succeed each other. How short is life — (1) Comparatively. Fifty, sixty, seventy years, what is it to look back upon? (2) Actually in numberless instances. (3) Possibly in your case how uncertain is the time of death! 3. Though short, it is long enough. Life is short; there is no time to lose, but to each is given space for repentance. 4. Unlike the farmer, who may miss one harvest but secure the next, our opportunity once lost never returns. II. THE PALTRY REASONS ASSIGNED AS AN EXCUSE FOR NEGLECT. "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold." It is palpably unreal, the true reason is unconfessed; but it is found in the fact that the man is a sluggard — he loves not his work. (D. Thomas, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. |
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