“The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.” – Proverbs 15:19

Some years ago, our family went canyoneering just outside of Zion National Park. It was a beautiful experience, but it ultimately turned into a bigger adventure than we had bargained for.

The guide we hired offered an option to have a shuttle pick us up at the end of the expedition. Being a relatively fit (and cheap) group, we elected to save some money by hiking our way back instead. This was a mistake.

Tired from several hours of rappelling and hiking through slot canyons, we emerged into the bare desert landscape. There stood our guide, squinting in the sun and uttering the less-than encouraging words, “Um, I think it’s this way.”

Blindly following the blind, we bushwhacked our way through thorny shrubs. The desert sun beat on our backs as the loose gravel tripped our feet. It was a rough journey and involved a lot of backtracking.

About an hour into our death march, our guide sheepishly admitted we were the first ones to ever opt out of paying for the shuttle service. There was no trail, and this was his first time hiking out, as well. But he was confident we would find our way back before nightfall.

Tears were shed. Fingers were pointed. But after another hour, red from exhaustion and dust, we finally found our way back to our vehicles.

I was thinking about that story as I read Proverb 15:19 this morning. Solomon compares the way of the sluggard to a hedge of thorns. In his sloth, he wants to take the shortcut, the “easier way,” but what he finds instead is more pain and difficulty. In our case, it was the shortcut of trying to avoid the immediate pain of spending a little extra money for the shuttle. The result was that we ended up paying much more in pain, discomfort, and time.

It’s a lesson we have to drill into our heads: Every time we choose temporary comfort over doing the hard thing, we aren’t avoiding the pain; we’re just putting it off. Eventually, procrastination has to be paid back with interest. Laziness promises peace now, but compounds pain in the future. It makes the fool’s bargain of trading temporary discomfort for long-term regret.

In the moment, I’d rather stay in bed than get up and read my Bible. It’s more comfortable to sit on the couch than go to the gym. It tastes better to eat junk food than vegetables. But in the long run, laziness is never worth it.

Solomon says, “but the path of the upright is a level highway.” In the long run, the hard path will prove to be the smoother one. The path of God-honoring faithfulness in our responsibilities isn’t always easy and it’s rarely comfortable, but from the perspective of eternity, it will prove to have been the better way.