The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. (Proverbs 13:4)

I resist this proverb on two levels -- though similarly, I recognize its truth on two levels.

First, I often find myself thinking that I should curb my natural desires:  that if I want something, then it's probably not the best thing for me.  Rather good things, godly things, are difficult and require discipline and may be (or usually are) unpleasant in the short-term.

Second, like most human beings, I am naturally lazy.  I regularly hit the snooze bar on my alarm clock two, three, four, five times before getting up in the morning.  If one of the kids wakes up in the night-time, I much prefer to let my wife get up and deal with the situation.  Even in the midst of working on a big project, I still frequently drift away to check sports scores or blogs or Facebook on the internet.  I can try to justify myself by saying that I know a whole lot more people who are more lazy than I am -- but that's just window dressing, really.  I'm lazy, and I know it.

So this proverb challenges me on both of these levels:  low expectations and laziness.  Or to phrase it more positively:  desire and diligence.  It's good to realize that it's not only OK to have desires, cravings, and longings; it's actually a good thing.  Yes, I suppose there needs to be some prudence when it comes to determining which things we choose as the objects of our desire... But suffice to say:  not all ambition is bad.  It's not some cheesy American Hollywood invention.  Dreams are God-given.

But diligence is also required, to see our dreams become realities.  Again, this isn't about some narrow view of a northern-European "Protestant work ethic" or pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps.  But it is about deliberately counteracting our lazy tendencies and choosing to apply faith and apply effort to step in the direction of the dreams to which God is calling us.

So I feel like I need to ask myself:  What are my desires -- my true, God-given dreams for life?  And what steps do I need to take in order to diligently pursue those dreams?  They're deep questions that demand time, energy, and prayer... But they're very worthwhile -- a whole heck of a lot better than craving nothing and getting nothing.