Today is International Sloth Day, according to the calendar of weird and wacky holidays.

According to their website, this unofficial holiday, created in 2010, raises awareness of the little mammal that lives in the rainforests of Central and South America.

This famously slow-moving animal spends much of its life hanging upside down—even eating, sleeping, mating, and giving birth in that position.

A sloth’s movement, metabolism, and digestion are remarkably slow.

• Their metabolism is unusually slow compared with other mammals their size.
• They don’t travel very far—only about 40 yards a day, less than half a football field.
• Sloths have a slow digestive system.
• In the wild, they generally spend eight to ten hours a day sleeping.

While God created the sloth with characteristics suited to its environment, He calls us to diligence rather than slothfulness.

The Hebrew word often translated “slothful” or “sluggard” in Proverbs describes someone who is lazy, sluggish, or indolent. A sluggard.

The book of Proverbs offers numerous descriptions, warnings, and condemnations of slothfulness.

Proverbs 19:24
“The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.”

Proverbs 10:4
“He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”

Proverbs 20:4
“The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing.”

Proverbs 26:16
“The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.”

These and many other warnings in the book of Proverbs describe slothfulness as a moral failing that produces disastrous results and reveals troubling attitudes, including:

• Hunger and poverty (Prov. 19:15).
• Ruin, waste, and decay (Prov. 18:9; 24:30–34).
• Subjection to forced labor (Prov. 12:24).
• Frustrated and unfulfilled dreams and desires (Prov. 13:4; 21:25).
• Irritation to others and disgrace (Prov. 10:5, 26).
• Irrational excuses (Prov. 22:13).
• Arrogance (Prov. 26:16).

The Bible provides the antidote to slothfulness: diligence in every area of our personal, professional, and spiritual lives.

The Preacher, in observing “life under the sun,” offered this therapeutic exhortation: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Eccl. 9:10).

Likewise, the New Testament offers several admonitions that speak to vigor and vitality.

Colossians 3:23
“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”

Romans 12:11
“Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

Slothfulness undermines God’s purpose for work, which points beyond oneself. To make a difference in life. To add value to a worthy endeavor. To serve others’ needs.

This happens not only through the work itself, but also through the money we earn. Life is not just about getting; it’s more about giving. The Bible says we must work and do something useful so that we “have something to share with those in need” (Eph. 4:28).

Of course, slothfulness is not needed rest; it is the unwillingness to fulfill our responsibilities.

Furthermore, slothfulness is incompatible with the effort, energy, and work necessary to grow spiritually. The apostle Peter challenges us with these words:

2 Peter 1:5–7
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”

The spiritually lazy, indolent person will not achieve growth in the Christian graces. They call for mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual diligence.

Spiritual growth requires more than good intentions. It calls for opening our Bibles, making time for prayer, assembling with the saints, and serving others.

While the sloth is a familiar creature, its slow pace should never become an excuse for our spiritual inactivity.

Indeed, Richard Baxter was right when he wrote, “A slothful spirit is another impediment to this heavenly life.”

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman