Proverbs 24:30–34

"I walked by the field of a lazy person,
        the vineyard of one with no common sense.
      I saw that it was overgrown with nettles.
        It was covered with weeds,
        and its walls were broken down.
      Then, as I looked and thought about it,
        I learned this lesson:
      A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,
        a little folding of the hands to rest—
then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;
        scarcity will attack you like an armed robber."

 

What a graphic picture of laziness! The effects seem to creep up on the lazy person. While the sluggard is focused on ease, on not pushing himself, poverty sneaks in. But do these verses apply only to laziness per se, or might they apply to misplaced priorities in general? What if verses 30–34 were phrased differently? "A little more time online, one more email responded to—and my relationship with my children and spouse will disintegrate, my relationships in the community will erode …"