| “Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chronicles 15:7). |
| “The desire of the slothful [lazy person] killeth him; for his hands refuse to labor” (Proverbs 21:25). |
| “There is none upright among men … they hunt every man his brother … that they may do evil with both hands” (Micah 7:2-3). |
| Our hands are a most useful part of our body, and we can do many things with them. We can do good things, or we can do bad things. Also, we can sit around and do nothing with them. In our verses today we have these three examples of the use of our hands. |
| First of all, we have the encouragement to be strong, and not to let our hands be weak. These words were originally addressed to king Asa of Judah, after he had won a great victory over the large army that had come to attack him. The prophet encouraged him to go on, and as a result, Asa got rid of all the idols in the land, and offered a large sacrifice to the Lord. He used his hands in a good way. |
| In our second verse, we find someone who is lazy, and refuses to do any work. It says that his desire “killeth him,” meaning that the lazy person really wants all the good things of life, but does not want to work for them. It is very hard for him, for the next verse in the chapter says that “he coveteth (really wants) greedily all the day long,” yet his laziness means that he does not get any of those things. We all need to work in this life, and it is good to learn how when we are young. |
| Finally, we have those who use their hands, but in a wrong way. They may be clever and willing to work, but not to do good things. No, they “do evil with both hands.” For example, there are many in this world who use their brains and their hands to invent viruses for computers, just to see how much damage they can do. Others invent clever ways to “scam” people, by pretending to be the government, or a big company (like the telephone company, or a bank). They try to trick people into giving them private information such as bank account numbers and passwords, or credit card information. Last year in Canada one group of scammers pretended to be the income tax department, and eventually cheated people out of fifteen million dollars before they were finally stopped. |
| You and I can use our hands in a right way or a wrong way. Let us choose the right way. |
