You know the verse from Proverbs, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man…  But did you know that it’s actually recorded twice in the book of Proverbs?  The same exact verse is found in Proverbs 6:10-11 and Proverbs 24:33-34.

I find it fascinating that Solomon would record it twice, but it makes sense why he would.  If you read the verses around the phrase in both chapters, you’ll see that he’s emphasizing two different, but equally important issues: procrastination and laziness.

I’m guilty of it and I’m sure you can relate when I say that sometimes I let procrastination get the best of me.  It doesn’t happen all the time, but it sure is easy to spot, especially if the same task keeps ending up on my to do list time after time, after time.

So back to sleep…why would Solomon make a direct reference to sleep?  It’s because we’ve all been given the same amount of time every day.  The farmer, doctor, student, CEO and musician all have the same amount of time each day: 24 hours.  How they use that time will shape the degree of expertise in their field.  If they want to sleep in everyday and take an afternoon nap, they have the right to do that.  But, it will probably mean that the farmer won’t take advantage of the sunlight to tend to his crops.  Or the student might not find enough time to finish a project if he chooses to nap each afternoon.  So the bottom line to both of these verses is one thing: time.  You can choose to spend your time sleeping or folding your hands and resting (yes, I’d compare this to sitting and watching TV) or you can take action, like Solomon suggests.

Remember I said that Solomon included each phrase twice?  He gives us actionable advice from these passages on how to conquer procrastination and laziness – here’s what we can take from these passages.