Being lazy isn’t something I usually think about during Holy Week, given how much is going on at church: assembling meals for those in need and Palm Sunday this past weekend, Tuesday evening music rehearsal, Maundy Thursday service, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday, including the Easter breakfast potluck. And less than two weeks later, the Women’s Spring Retreat. Whew! But asking myself about becoming lazy is exactly what I need to think about—and now!

Lazy about ordinary work

For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10 NIV

Paul made his living as a tent-maker (Acts 18:3), and I can’t imagine him being lazy about tent-making or anything. Since I retired from my teaching career, I don’t make a living in the traditional pay-check way of thinking. But I do work in my new career as a writer and speaker—some paid—and I volunteer in our community, all of which I love to do. What I need to watch out for is becoming lazy about ordinary work—house and yard chores, tending dogs, cooking, laundry, and so forth. 

So, here’s some advice from Martin Luther King, Jr. “Set out to do a job and do that job so well that the living, the dead, the unborn couldn’t do it any better. If it falls our lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera, and sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’” I would do well to think about this when cleaning our own floors.

Trade and traders are mentioned several times in scripture. Work in a trade, such as Paul’s tent-making, and work as a trader or merchant were honorable professions as long as they behaved honestly, and there was agreement. But these days, one has to be especially careful about honesty and agreements.

Lazy about detecting deceptions

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! Proverbs 6:6 NIV

This verse seems similar to the anti-lazy exhortation above. Yes, work hard—but ever more, be wise. Proverbs is about wisdom, and these days, with AI and scammers, I need all the wisdom I can get. Here’s an example.

Last week, I received a personal email directed from the contact form on my website saying this: “I went through Wisdom Builds Her House and what stands out immediately is how layered and intimate it is. The discovery of Gretchen’s journal, and the way it mirrors your own life, creates this haunting sense of connection that pulls the reader deeper with every page. And that’s where this book becomes unforgettable. Because this isn’t just a memoir, it’s an uncovering. The kind that forces reflection, brings buried emotions to the surface, and asks difficult questions about trauma, identity, and faith. Readers don’t just observe your journey, they begin to examine their own.”

She went on to say that my book isn’t getting the attention she thinks it deserves and asked me if I would be open to connecting with readers. Not knowing what to think – maybe an invitation to her book club – I answered. And that’s when I found out that she is, maybe, working with a person on Fiverr, a platform for freelancers, and for $75, she would help me “position” my book. 

How often have I gotten into a situation and asked: Why didn’t someone tell me? Well, because I didn’t ask. Time to bring in the helpers: my fellow memoir and platform-building writers. Should I be wary? I asked in my online cross-post. Yes, my colleagues said, it’s a scam, and here’s why.

Many writers get solicited and often. Anyone who reaches out to you via email is likely a scammer. No one who actually has experience in publicity, marketing or SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is going to do anything for $75. As always, you get what you pay for, and Fiverr’s low costs probably mean poor or amateurish quality. People shouldn’t be reaching out to clients outside of the platform. Be prepared to get more elaborate emails describing how wonderful your book is but it isn’t reaching the wide audience it deserves, so this person’s services will enable it to do that. They use AIs that praise your work so eloquently that it’s hard not to believe them. But they all sound the same. 

And indeed, the specific information the scammer used about my book is available through Amazon reviews. I must not ever be lazy about deceptions, especially those using flattery and promises, and I must always seek help. Here’s the link to Jane Friedman’s free session on spotting scams. Jane is a longtime, trustworthy, straight-talker for writers and marketing.

Lazy about trusting God

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11 NIV

I can’t be lazy with work or deceptions. But the greatest question I need to ask myself is this: Am I becoming lazy about trusting God? This story from “Work and the Workers in Front of the Pulpit,” by Matt Rusten, published in the Spring 2026 issue of Common Good.

In The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard wrote about being a disciple of Jesus in daily living and a scenario about a plumber and fixing a pipe in a cold, dark, damp crawl space. Willard: “You must never say, ‘It is only me and the pipe.’ It’s never just you and the pipe. In that moment, you remember that you serve an all-powerful, creative God who gives guidance and wisdom to his servants, and you call out to him, asking for a solution to the problem.”

Rusten’s and Willard’s point: nothing in our lives is only about us and what we’re doing. And so, I ask: Am I serving God while doing ordinary work? Am I asking God for helpers when facing possible deceptions? Am I reading His Word and keeping my zeal and spiritual fervor this week and every day of my life? Or am I becoming lazy, trying to do it on my own?

Questions to ponder. 

I wish you a blessed Holy Week. -C.D.

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