“He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, but he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding” (Proverbs 12:11).
Humanity was created by God to work (Gen. 2:15) and to derive divine blessings and personal satisfaction from honest, honorable, and personal toil. Therefore, “If anyone will not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thes. 3:10).
A wise man will labor diligently and will gratefully accept whatever increase God makes of his labor. If God choses to bless his efforts only with food and covering, with these he is content (1 Tim. 6:8).
A foolish man works tirelessly to do as little as possible. He is endlessly seeking a shortcut to success. He never knows the satisfaction of a job well done because he never invests enough “sweat equity” in a project to be successful. He follows after frivolous and vain things, and his pursuit ends with a lifetime accumulation of waste and folly.
Because “the recompense of a man’s hands will be rendered to him” (Prov. 12:14), a fool has nothing of substance or value to show for his lifetime of trivial pursuits.
