Proverbs 10:4

Driving home: He's got a loose wrist and floppy fingers. He doesn't have a stiff wrist. He works. He works with a slack hand.

The ant is used as an example of foresight and diligence in gathering and providing, contrasting with someone who is merely working without purpose.

He's not sitting on his easy chair. He's learned a little something from the ant. You've got to gather. You've got to provide. So he's working.

0:33 - 0:40 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He's got a loose wrist and floppy fingers. He doesn't have a stiff wrist. He works. He works with a slack hand.

Martin describes a worker who 'punches his clock' or is 'up on the roof looking for the hole,' illustrating that mere presence or activity is not enough; the quality of work matters.

Nobody can say he hasn't punched his clock. Nobody can say he's not out in the yard, he's not up on the roof looking for the hole in the shingles that's producing the leak. He's working. But what's his problem? He becomes poor that works with a slack hand.

0:41 - 0:57 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He's got a loose wrist and floppy fingers. He doesn't have a stiff wrist. He works. He works with a slack hand.

This vivid metaphor describes the physical manifestation of a 'slack hand,' conveying a lack of firmness, precision, and commitment in one's labor.

He's got a loose wrist and floppy fingers. He doesn't have a stiff wrist. He works. He works with a slack hand.

0:59 - 1:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Do whatever your hand finds to do in the will of God with all of your might, throwing the whole weight of your redeemed humanity into it.

Martin uses his own preaching as an analogy, explaining that he cannot merely 'talk' but must preach 'with all my might' as unto the Lord, feeling 'wrung to a ringer' afterward.

Is to be done, not with half my might, three quarters of my might, nine-tenths of my might, but with all of my might, as unto the Lord who commands me to love him with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Not the way I preached to you. I could stand up here and just talk, be a nice Bible talker, go home Sunday night, feel nice and relaxed, instead of feeling like I was wrong to a ringer. But how could I read that verse?

1:38 - 2:15 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He doesn't get the full reward that comes from the knowledge that, by the grace of God, I did my best with all of my might.

He describes a worker with a slack hand who is bypassed for promotions because others get more work done in the same time, leading to a 'sad story' of being 'picked on'.

His boss sees that he works, punches the clock on time, but he may as well punch it two hours later, because others, in the same amount of time, get a third more work done. Why? Because they're working with all their might. He's bypassed in promotions, and then he comes and gives a sad story of how he's picked on because he's a slack hand.

3:25 - 3:45 Read in full sermon

The point: Model the diligence of Joseph and Daniel in the work world.

Joseph's promotion in Egypt, despite his religion, is used as an example of how diligence and excellent work are recognized and rewarded by secular authorities.

Joseph was promoted in Egypt by people who didn't want a thing to do with his religion. Daniel was brought to high places of influence in the Babylonian Empire, in the Medo-Persian Empire. They hated his God and his religion. But what did they like?

4:06 - 4:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Model the diligence of Joseph and Daniel in the work world.

Daniel's rise to high influence in pagan empires is cited as another example of diligence being valued and rewarded, even by those who hated his God.

Joseph was promoted in Egypt by people who didn't want a thing to do with his religion. Daniel was brought to high places of influence in the Babylonian Empire, in the Medo-Persian Empire. They hated his God and his religion. But what did they like?

4:06 - 4:22 Read in full sermon