When a man talks foolishly we say, He talks idly; for none betray their
folly more than those who are idle and go about to excuse themselves in
their idleness. As men's folly makes them slothful, so their
slothfulness makes them foolish. Observe, 1. What the slothful man
really dreads. He dreads the way, the streets, the place where work is
to be done and a journey to be gone; he hates business, hates every
thing that requires care and labour. 2. What he dreams of, and pretends
to dread--a lion in the way. When he is pressed to be diligent, either
in his worldly affairs or in the business of religion, this is his
excuse (and a sorry excuse it is, as bad as none), There is a lion in
the way, some insuperable difficulty or danger which he cannot pretend
to grapple with. Lions frequent woods and deserts; and, in the
day-time, when man has business to do, they are in their dens, Ps. civ.
22, 23. But the sluggard fancies, or rather pretends to fancy, a lion
in the streets, whereas the lion is only in his own fancy, nor is he so
fierce as he is painted. Note, It is a foolish thing to frighten
ourselves from real duties by fancied difficulties, Eccl. xi. 4.