15 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
16 A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
than seven people who answer discreetly.
Laziness is not only a barrier to getting things started, but also to finishing them. The sluggard’s life is often filled with unfinished projects and unfulfilled promises, along with excuses for all of them. The more he puts things off, the more they pile up around him; the more excuses he makes, the more they begin to define him. Have you been putting something off? Free yourself from excuses and take care of it, the longer you wait the harder it will be.
“A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven people who answer discreetly.” There is one area where the sluggard excels, and that is self-justification. He has plenty of reasons for his self-destructive habits, none of which are his own fault. He imagines danger, avoids discomfort, objects to being rushed and fancies himself too smart for routine work. But what sounds reasonable to him is often ridiculous to everyone else (26:13). Convincing no one but himself, he is enslaved by his own rationalizations.