Proverbs 20 verse 4 says, The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold, therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing. The bottom line to this proverb is that the sluggard will use any lame excuse not to work, and in the end, that is why he is begging, even as the rest of the hardworking community has a harvest and plenty to eat. Of course, hunger and starvation has happened throughout all of human history to people through no direct fault of their own. Wars and natural disasters, people being stranded at sea, people just becoming debilitated with illness, people stranded or left injured in the desert or wilderness, all these examples can be given and have resulted in untold numbers of millions of people starving to death and dying of malnutrition. So regardless of the reason, this proverb isn't talking about those who go hungry for such reasons as that, but for those who simply refuse to work and do what is right. I live in central Ohio, and as soon as we enter the immediate suburbs of Columbus or drive around in the city limits of Columbus, we see people standing on the street corner with cardboard signs begging for help. And when I first moved to Columbus years ago as a single, inexperienced young man who wanted to help people in the name of Jesus Christ, I would frequently stop and try to help these people. But it hadn't occurred to me that others had tried before I came along. I'd give them five bucks, I'd preach the gospel, and give them a gospel tract. They were only interested in the five bucks, and after a while, I got discouraged. So I talked to a Christian friend and told him what I'd been doing, and he said, you did what? Brother, you can't do that. Those people are just bumming for dope and sex money. He explained that all I did was help them buy booze, drugs, or a prostitute who, in that day, would do what they did for five dollars. But I decided I would try again with a little different tact. A friend that I knew ran his own business, and he told me that if I found any of those bums willing to work, he could put several of them to work right away. So I stopped in front of a Meijer store near Georgesville Road on the west side here of Columbus. and saw this young man. First of all, it struck me, he looked like he was just a few years older than me, but he just didn't have a bath. He's staying there with his little cardboard there. And so I approached him and I talked to him and said, you know, I can get you a job this afternoon and you can work as long as you want, make some money. He said, that would be great. My brother's in the shade over there. We've been taking turns and looking out for each other. Let me go get him and we'll be right back. So I was feeling really good at that point. Sat in my car, started it up, waited for a minute. Then I looked over where he had gone and I saw him and his brother, if that was his brother, running in the opposite direction. I started to drive after them, then I realized what was happening. These bums were bums. They had no desire to work, and they all had their excuses. I talked to people, and I still would talk to people, I just stopped giving them money. Some were veterans who the government wouldn't help. Others had health problems and couldn't work. No matter what job was offered, indoor or outdoor, manual, labor or desk job, they had an excuse for not working. The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold. Therefore shall he beg and harvest and have nothing. I didn't give street bums cash, and I haven't since I learned that less than 30 years ago. I still preach the gospel and refer them to Charity Mission in downtown Columbus. But in all these years, only one man has ever taken me up on that offer, and he only lasted about two days before returning to the streets. The point of our proverb, sluggards are not victims with very few exceptions. Those exceptions prove the rule. They're wicked. They're on skid row with few exceptions again. And please don't write me with all that mainstream claptrap about it. Because they're lazy and they want a free ride and it is sin. And if you learn that, it'll save you some cash and keep you from paying for someone else's debauchery. Give them the gospel. Offer to get them work. And that's all you and I can do until they repent toward God with faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ being born again by faith in that gospel. We are not saviors. Only Jesus can save them from their sin and from their life choices.