Who doesn't like to see people who are diligent? Be it in your own household, school/educational institution, or workplace. Craft is a valuable quality of a person. Many people think that craft has nothing to do with faith or the spiritual dimension of a person, but the two are very much related. How one understands his or her creator is closely related to how he or she speaks and behaves.

Such is the advice of wisdom that we get in today's Proverbs. Our reading highlights the laziness that makes a person's life unproductive and makes them starve. It is like someone who is lost in a deep sleep (v.14). It should be noted that the advice of wisdom was born out of the context of an agrarian society that turned the wheels of life through the productive actions of agriculture or animal husbandry. So those who are lazy to cultivate and make something out of the land will soon starve.

The opposite of lazy is industrious, so that is the focus of the next wisdom. But what kind of craftsmanship meets the "standards" of Wisdom? Apparently in verse 2 the question is answered very well, "without knowledge the craft is not good." Diligence is not the same as getting the job done quickly, because such a person will tend to be hasty, careless and make mistakes. So craft needs to be balanced with knowledge. The skill and wisdom to do things.

How valuable the advice of Proverbs is today. In this modern age productivity and speed are so deified. Craft is defined only in terms of productivity and speed. As a result, people tend to do various ways to get there such as relying on artificial intelligence or working as quickly as possible. It is fitting then that today's warning from Proverbs is that craft has no value if it is not paired with knowledge. In wisdom literature, knowledge is not just about technical prowess, but moral judgement and alignment with God's word. In other words, craft includes the dimensions of morality and spirituality. Has our craft also been defined in these categories?