Proverbs
22:29 “Seest thou a man
diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand
before men of low estate.”
This
last Sunday, our Pastor Kyle preached on “diligence” of the Christian, First, stating
that diligent people understand that they are not only their biggest
competitor, but also truly their only competitor. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary
defines the word “diligent” as: being steady
in application to business; constant in effort or exertion to accomplish what
is undertaken; assiduous; attentive; industrious; not idle or negligent.
Proverbs
10:4 “He who has a slack
hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”
The
Hebrew word for “rich” used in Proverbs 10:4 is “ashar” (עָשַר), which
translates as: properly, to accumulate;
chiefly (specifically) to grow (causatively, make self) rich. The wisdom of
the holy proverb is that the child of God is neither “slacking” (not doing
their best), “negligent” (not paying attention), or “idle” (not doing what
should be done). Who knows if you have a slack
hand? Both you and Almighty God. Ephesians 2:10 tells us: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Our Creator
designed and made us to be industrious. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines
the word “industrious’ as: (1) Diligent
in business or study; constantly, regularly or habitually occupied in business;
assiduous; opposed to slothful and idle. (2) Diligent in a particular
pursuit, or to a particular end; opposed to remiss or slack; as industrious to
accomplish a journey, or to reconcile contending parties. (3) Given to
industry; characterized by diligence; as an industrious life. (4) Careful;
assiduous; as the industrious application of knowing men. External enemies
leaves, but the guilt from our internal conscience remains. The “prosperity
gospel” is not God making us wealthy and living the good life on “easy street”,
but accumulating knowledge of God, growing in the love and grace of God, being
diligent in the good works of God and being rich in Jesus Christ.
Job
17:9 “Yet the righteous
will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.”
Secondly,
diligent people track what they do to make sure it is producing the godly results
they desire. What we value is proved by the making and reserving of time and
actually doing it. The data of your life tells you what you really appreciate,
is worthy to you and holds importance in your life. We have lots of distracting
devices in our lives vying for our attention, but are we any better off? Thirdly, diligent people push themselves to
advance (even when no one else knows). When the going gets tough and when it
matters the most, the diligent get going. There are seasonal patterns of life
and there is a lot of preparatory steps to any harvest, but they are all godly
and good steps to take. Fourthly, Diligent people understand that “harvest” = “hardest”.
At harvest time, it’s get up early, gather, sort, pack and ship. God sends laborers
into the ministry fields of life. The harvest is the mission. God shows up and
works along side, when we work to advance the kingdom of heaven.
Ephesians
4:12-15 “To equip his people
for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we
all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and
become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then
we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and
blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and
craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the
truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of
him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Lord God, Make us diligent and use our heads for your glory, amen.
In
Christ, Brian
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