SLOTH AND LUKEWARMNESS REPROVED.a
Josh, xviii. 3. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, ivhich the Lord God of your fathers hath given you ?
CONSISTENCY in religion is by no means an easy attainment. Certain duties may be performed
a For New Year's Day.
with zeal, whilst others of a more difficult and self- denying nature are shamefully neglected. We admire and applaud the conduct of " the whole congregation of Israel" in relation to the tabernacle, which with one consent they " set up for the Lord in Shiloh," as soon as ever " the land was subdued before them." This mark of respect and gratitude, of love and devo- tion, was due to God in the first place : but should we not have expected, that they would immediately go on to complete the work which God had assigned them, and which they had almost brought to a suc- cessful termination ? Yet behold, there were no less than seven tribes out of the twelve, who had not yet received their inheritance, and who manifested a most criminal indifference respecting the possession of their appointed portion. This negligence Joshua reproves in the words which we have read : for the elucidation of which we shall shew,
I. The force of the reproof as applied to them —
God had given them the land, and had so far sub- dued the inhabitants before them, that little re- mained but to go and take possession of the whole country. But they delayed, and their neglect brought a just reproof upon them ; 1. For their indolence —
[It is manifest that they gave way to an indolent and sloth- ful spirit, which kept them from making the exertions neces- sary for the acquisition of their respective lots. Now this is an habit which we are all too apt to indulge, and which has a most injurious effect wherever it prevails. Solomon speaks of it as rendering a man averse to the most necessary duties, insomuch that "his way is always like an hedge of thorns" that makes his every motion difficult and painfuP. Hence he is impoverished ; " The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing0:" even the attainments he has made are rendered un- profitable to him through the influence of this corrupt prin- ciple : "he roasteth not that which he took in hunting d :" in fact, as Solomon further observes, " The desire of the slothful killeth hime." Now to yield to this principle at any time is very reprehensible ; but under their circumstances, when God
b Prov. xv. 19. c Prov. xiii. 4. d Prov. xii. 27.
e Prov. xxi. 25.