The Folly of Failing to Follow Through

"The sluggard burries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth."

Proverbs 26:15

You can't help but love the Bible sometimes - even for those of you who don't fully agree with it. Sometimes, it just says somethings that rings all too true. Whether from personal experience or that of another's story, how many times have we seen that is all to easy to "put our spoon in the bowl", to then realize how much we dread "bringing it back up to our mouth."

Sure - its a little silly. I've never personally not brought the spoon of Cocoa Crisps up to my mouth because it took too much effort - though, the thought had crossed my mind once or twice. I admit it! Somedays, you can just be so exhausted that no matter how hungry you are, you just can't convince your body to carry out the thought in your brain.

But that's not what the Proverb is getting at. I see it play out more in the realm of following through with something. You see, it is 1,000 times more easy to start something, than it is to finish it. The thing that separates most people in life isn't there ability to start on a particular course, but to finish that course. Look around you. How many people do you know, personally, who have started something - a new diet, a new degree, a new job, a new relationship - only to abandon it soon after starting. They're all over the place - and I am right up in the mix of that party. As ashamed as I am to admit it, there are so many occasions where I have begun something strong, only to fizzle out somewhere around the first turn.

What this Proverb is getting at goes a step further though. It doesn't just address the sluggard's outward action - the "stopping short" so-to-speak - of not carrying out a thing; it dives into the motivation. Why does the sluggard have a bowl of food to begin with? He's hungry! Anybody could have guessed that one, right. So why does he stop short? Does he not have the right tools? No - he's got a bowl, food, spoon, hands apparently - what else does he need. Does he not have the right motivation? Well, that can be argued. He obviously has some motivation, or else he wouldn't be sitting at the table with the bowl and the spoon and the food in the first place.

But, he doesn't have the motivation to continue to completion - to see the thing to the end! Somewhere along his journey to the bottom of the bowl, a choice was made: I can either bring the spoon back up to my mouth and eat the food that is before me, or I can just leave it there, at the bottom of the bowl, where it does me no good? One requires an investment of energy and time, the other requires me to do nothing more.

But which one will do me more good? That is the question the fool skips out on. Its not really a matter of deciding to do something or not. Its really not about deciding to finish something or not. Its about making up your mind before you begin to do that which will be more beneficial in the end! Once that question is settled, then that moment of decision, where you're faced with "lift and eat" or "sink and starve", becomes exceedingly clear.

The fool is so close! If he would just lift that spoon and eat, he would actually nourish his body. Yes, it will require a little more effort, but in the end, it will fuel and reward that effort. But the fool is a fool, not becuase he can't lift the spoon, or even because he chooses not to lift it. He is a fool becuase he fails to see what the end result of his decision really is - whether to work and live, or quit and die!