Listen to Shakespeare: "Nothing can come of nothing." A belief is worthless unless converted into action. The word work is not an obscure biblical concept; it appears in the Bible over 500 times. Often, the simple answer to your prayer is: Go to work.
"Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven't planted" (David Bly). What you believe doesn't amount to very much unless it causes you to climb out of the grandstand and onto the playing field. You cannot just dream yourself into what you could be. The only time a lazy person ever succeeds is when he tries to do nothing. A famous old saying says it best: "Laziness travels so slowly, poverty soon overtakes it."
A person who wastes enormous amounts of time talking about success will win the "prize" of failure. When you are lazy, you must work twice. It is always a trying time for the person who is always trying to get something for nothing. God doesn't make apple juice—He makes apples. Some say nothing is impossible, yet there are a lot of people doing nothing every day.
Some do things while others sit around becoming experts on how things might be done. The world is divided into people who do things and people who talk about doing things. Belong to the first group—there is far less competition.
I believe the Lord didn't burden us with work. He blessed us with it. "All men are alike in their promises. It is only in their deeds that they differ" (Moliere). Wishing has never made a poor man wealthy. Robert Half nails it: "Laziness is the secret ingredient that goes into failure, but it's only kept a secret from the person who fails."
Tell yourself: "Inspirations never go in for long engagements; they demand immediate marriage to action" (Brendon Francis). If the truth were known, most of our troubles arise from loafing when we should be working, and talking when we should be listening.
There is a man in the world who never gets turned down, wherever he chances to stray;
he gets the glad hand in the populous town, or out where the farmers make hay;
he is greeted with pleasure on deserts of sand, and deep in the isles of the woods;
wherever he goes there is a welcoming hand - he's the man who delivers the goods.
-Walt Whitman
he gets the glad hand in the populous town, or out where the farmers make hay;
he is greeted with pleasure on deserts of sand, and deep in the isles of the woods;
wherever he goes there is a welcoming hand - he's the man who delivers the goods.
-Walt Whitman
Excerpt permission granted by Insight Publishing
John Mason is a highly regarded international speaker, minister, professional author coach and best-selling author. He is the founder and president of Insight International and Insight Publishing Group.
