One afternoon Mark’s teenage cousin, Jim, stopped by on his way home from work at the supermarket where he carried out groceries. He had always liked to be with Mark when he had acted as baby sitter and later taught Mark to ride a bike without training wheels. He was still interested in Mark and his activities. Besides that Mark’s mother usually had something good to eat for him. Sure enough, Mark’s mother asked him if he’d like a piece of the apple pie she’d just finished baking--and of course he would. "That is my favorite kind of pie, Aunt Martha, " he said happily.

As he began to eat, Jim told them that another boy, Fred, was fired that day. Mrs. Johnson said, "I’m so sorry, what happened?"

Jim replied, "Well, you know that I’ve told you more than once that he was late for work and Mr. Cook told him it was very important that he get to work on time. But Fred told us afterwards that he couldn’t help it if he overslept. He said his mother had set the clock to wake him but he turned it off and shut his eyes to sleep just a little longer. He said the next thing he knew was his mother shaking him and telling him to wake up. His mother told him that he was already late for work but, if he hurried, it might only be a few minutes late. That wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn’t happened so many times--with the same story. Several of the boys try to hang out at the back so they won’t be there at the counter to carry groceries. Fred was especially good at this but today he decided to go to the warehouse. He found some sacks of flour there in a pile and decided to sit down and rest a while. He’d watched the late show on TV the night before so he was sleepy. He put his head on a sack and went to sleep the next minute. Mr. Cook noticed that he hadn’t carried any groceries out and asked one of the boys if they knew where Fred was. They knew he’d gone in the warehouse to hide but told Mr. Cook that he’d likely gone to the rest room. But Mr. Cook’s first job in the store had been carrying groceries years ago so he hunted Fred. Sure enough he found Fred asleep in the warehouse and woke him up. He told him to go home and sleep all he wanted but he was paid to work at the store so he need not come to work again"

Mark said, "That was bad but he should have been doing his job."

"Yes, " Jim replied, "and he was saving to buy him a car--but he spent a lot of his money instead of saving, I’m saving to go to college and I try to watch my spending as I want to be sure I get an education. Maybe I can buy groceries instead of carrying them some day. Think I can, Mark?"

"I know you’ll finish college and get a good job some day because you are a good worker and always get to work on time and do your best, "answered Mark.

"I’ll list you as a reference when I apply for my first job, " laughed Jim. "I’ve got to get home. Thanks for the good pie and I’ll be seeing you. I’m off work Saturday afternoon. Mark, want to go bike riding with me then?"

"I sure do, "exclaimed Mark as getting to go somewhere with his older cousin was a privilege he always enjoyed.

"See you Saturday, "said Jim as he went out the door.

"Mama, Fred is a sluggard isn’t he?" Mother replied that he certainly seemed to be and needed to change his ways.  She said she would read to Mark about what Solomon had to say about sluggards. Mark wanted to hear what Solomon had to say .

Mother began to read from Proverbs 6:9, "How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man." She told Mark that Solomon said more about sluggards in Proverbs 20:4 "A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing." She told him there was more in Proverbs 26:13 "The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!’ As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly."

Mark wondered what this last part meant and Mother said, "The sluggard says there is a lion outside because he does not want to get out and hunt a job or to go to work at one where he has a hard job. Men nowadays give excuses such as being afraid to go to work at this job because a man had had his car stolen there or he is afraid to drive on that road etc. He turns over in his bed instead of getting out of it and going to work. He is too lazy to feed himself and depends on his family or friends to feed and clothe him. But many of this sort think they are wise and know many things and like to tell other people that they know all about everything. They seem to know more than seven men who only speak when needed about what they know. But as we read before that is how poverty comes to a lazy man."

Mother said she wanted to read what Paul said in the New Testament in I Thessalonians 4:11, "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so you will not be dependent on anybody."

Write T (true) or F (false) in following blanks.

1.______A sluggard is lazy.

2._______A sluggard never makes excuses for not working.

3._______The sluggard considers himself wise.

4.________According to the New Testament it doesn’t matter whether we work or not.

5.________We should live quiet lives without bothering other people.

6.________Other people will not respect you if you have a job where you work hard shoveling coal into a furnace or other hard work in order to make a living.

7._________We should mind our own business and not try to tell other people how to run their business.

8._______We should depend on other people to support us and furnish what we need.