September 18, 2026

Business by the Book

Proverbs 13:4  The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

I heard a Navy man say one time that when a sailor met a sailor from another ship a common question that was usually asked was, “What is your S and S?”  Similar to the common question college mates ask often “What is your major?”  The S and S stand for Soul and State. Being naturally curious, the sailors would discuss how many people were on board their ship and the state of the ship. State meaning, was it heading home, was it in good seagoing condition, was it fully functional, was it on a certain mission, etc.

In the verse today the word “soul” is used twice. This word has a double meaning. Certainly the word soul means the eternal soul of a person, but it also means the wellbeing of their physical life. This verse can be interpreted two ways, one in the eternal realm, and the other in the temporal realm. As a pastor I can say with no fear of contradiction that the eternal souls of many people are empty; even believers in Christ. They are empty because that person does not diligently do the things needed to keep their soul full. But this is a business devotion, so let’s look at it from that standpoint.

In business there are sluggards, there are the diligent, and there are infinite mixtures of the two. The word “sluggard” means exactly what it sounds like; it means a person who is sluggish or lazy. In business these are the ones who end up with nothing. They have nothing: not because it was stolen, or lost on a bad investment, they have nothing because they did not perform the work needed to obtain that which they need or want. Sometimes these sluggards are very industrious, just not in the things they need to be industrious about.

I once knew a man who was very lazy at work, but on his time off he was training very diligently for an “Iron Man” competition. He lost his job, but he could run a long way. He epitomized the saying “Some men work at their play and play at their work.”  A sluggard is not only lazy in that they do little, it also could mean they are lazy about doing what needs to be done, but very energetic about doing what doesn’t need to be done. This is a very difficult concept for many to grasp, especially those who are afflicted with the condition.

The diligent however obtain that which is needed and then some. Our verse today lays out two paths, the path of the sluggard and the path of the diligent. One leads to nothing, one leads to fatness. Amazing, in a world obsessed with thinness there are still many who desire to be fat and are willing to do the work needed to obtain that fatness.

Dr. William Howe