Proverbs 24 deals with the problem of neglect of and satisfaction with one’s spiritual condition. It sounds an alarm to any who suffer from this problem. Solomon says he went by a field, noticed a vineyard, and realized something was wrong. The field was overgrown with thorns and thistles. The wall that had once protected it was broken down. In those days farmers and vineyard husbandmen were respected, but the owner of this land gained no respect from Solomon. He says this owner was “slothful, and . . . void of understanding . . . ” (or lacking sense). SLOTHFUL = lazy; indolent. Laziness can come for a variety of reasons. Sommetimes it comes when we just say, “I’ve done enough. It’s sufficient. I’m satisfied. I’m happy with where I am and what I am doing, and I am just not going to do anything else.” Notice again what Solomon says of the condition of this field. It was overgrown with thorns and nettles and thistles and all sorts of weeds had taken it over. I enjoy gardening. I have had big gardens, and they are a lot of work - especially in late summer. About late July or so, I’d reach the point that it sure got hard to get behind that tiller . . . and the hoe wasn’t that easy to use, either. And it was easy to become satisfied with what I had already gotten out of the garden. Productivity in any situation, whether it’s in a business or even in a church is the result of constant labor and a refusal to become satisfied with the status quo. Someone said “status quo” is Latin for “the mess we’re in.” But we don’t ever need to become satisfied with the way things are. When have we done enough as God’s people? When have we reached the point that we can come into the house, sit around the table and not worry about working out in the field? We probably all know or have known people who were once “spiritual giants.” Once upon a time they were soul winners, prayer warriors, faithful servants, and even leaders in the church. They were load bearers, burden sharers, faithful to the Lord and to the His work. But somewhere along the way they began to neglect the things of God in their lives, and now they are a mere shell of what they once were. Possibly, there is someone here today who might have to admit “I am not where I once was spiritually speaking." Maybe your passion and zeal have been replaced with complacency and apathy. Maybe you suffer from a common problem in the Lord’s churches called spiritual neglect. Solomon draws our attention to the problem of neglect and proclaims it as the result of slothfulness. And he says poverty is imminent for anyone who abandons their duty in that manner. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are headed toward that condition - spiritual poverty - and, even worse, some are already there. In II Peter 1:9 we see what God says about those who neglect spiritual growth in their lives: “But he that lacketh these things (listed in vv. 5-7) is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” So let’s look at these verses in Proverbs and see:

I. THE CRISES OF SPIRITUAL NEGLECT - VV. 30-31.

II. THE CAUSE OF SPIRITUAL NEGLECT.

III. The Consequences Of Spiritual Neglect.

IV. THE CURE FOR SPIRITUAL NEGLECT.