Topic : Diligence PART 3 -Rev Chris Oyakhilome PhD Introduction At the end of this class each member should: - Be acquainted with more scriptures on diligence - Understand what happens when we are diligent in any endeavor - Learn from the example of Christ, who was the embodiment of all diligence, and was diligent in all things. What happens when we are diligent in any endeavor? Proverbs 12 v 24: ‘The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute’. Proverbs 12 v 24 (CEV): ‘Work hard, and you will be a leader; be lazy, and you will end up a slave’. Remember that slothfulness is one of the antonyms of diligence; one who is not diligent is therefore slothful. Irrespective of the area of life: football, teaching, politics etc if you work hard, you’ll be a leader. It means you’ll be a champion and will be at the top of your field. ‘Work hard’ in Proverbs 12 v 24 means to be diligent in whatever is required to be done in that field or subject. Being a slave doesn’t mean one will be a slave to another person but it means to be a slave to a system. This means to be hemmed in, in life. If you don’t choose what you want you are going to have to stay with what you get; that’s the way life is. The diligent person will have authority and will be in control but the lazy one will be under tribute. We make the choices in life. Learn to be diligent at work and in whatever field you’re in; be diligent in whatever you do whether you’re a student, journalist, teacher, news correspondent etc. Make the choice to be diligent in anything you want to achieve. Proverbs 22 v 29: ‘Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men’ A diligent man will stand tall among kings; he’ll walk among them. He will be known among kings and not among obscure men. God cares about what happens to you as His child. He cares about the life that you live and the results that you get so be diligent in your business. In being diligent, it’s important to know the tools you are going to need to be the man or woman that you dream to be; what are you going to do to achieve your dreams and goals? Once you outline what you need to do to achieve your dreams, you must be diligent to do them. This can also be in simple areas such as: putting off or putting on weight, in your health, exercising for fitness etc; you need to outline what you’re going to do and how you are going to follow it through. It’s about diligence. Are you going to make improvements on your job? And what will you do to make the improvements? Will you be diligent? Remember that diligence refers to a careful, persistent and determined action, to achieve a definite purpose. In John 4 v 34, we see that Jesus was diligent: John 4 v 34: ‘Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work’ Jesus said that His food is to “do the will, the pleasure of Him that sent Him, and to accomplish and completely finish His work.” Jesus wasn’t just doing the will of God, He wanted to complete it. There are people who never complete projects; they stop half way and never get their work completed. Imagine if the Gospel brought to was not completed. On the cross Jesus said ‘it is finished’. He completed His work and now, the gospel is available and men are saved. If He hadn’t completed it, our salvation would have never been consummated, but He finished His work and at the end He said ‘it is finished’, and then gave up the ghost. Jesus was diligent and lived in such a way to fulfil the Father’s will; He knew His purpose and His focus was on the Father’s will Diligence is so important for the child of God. We’re supposed to copy Jesus and the Bible says for us to follow in His steps; act like Him. Jesus was diligent and we should be too. If you’re always going late to work it means you are not diligent, because is a time for resumption at work and you don’t comply. Whether you run your own business or you work in someone’s company or for the government, the Word of God says you shall stand before kings and not before mean men if you’re diligent; but if you are not diligent, He says you’ll be under tribute. How diligent are you in the work of God, in the cell system, in studying the Word of God and in praying? Samuel the prophet said: ‘…God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you’ (1 Samuel 12 v 23). He realized that not to pray for God’s people was a sin. Diligence is a quality of the human spirit and it’s not enough to be diligent in some things, God’s goal is for you to be diligent as a person, in all things. Diligence employs commitment and perseverance to transform vision into reality. And now as you’re learning the word on diligence, the seeds of diligence are being sown in your life because the Word of God has the capacity to produce in you, what it talks about. As you’re hearing the Word on diligence, faith is stirred in you to actuate it. The seed is being sown now in your spirit and the question is whether you’re going to let it produce results. If you start walking in the light of what you’re being taught on diligence, then you’re letting the Word gain pre-eminence and allowing it have the ascendancy in your spirit. This will cause you to manifest wisdom in every way. Remember that the Word says that ‘the hand of the diligent shall bear rule but the slothful shall be under tribute’ - this is a spiritual law in the kingdom of God. Irrespective of your place, rank or what you do, diligence will take you into a place of authority while slothfulness will put you under the task master; under forced labor. It doesn’t matter that you’re gifted; if you’re not diligent to utilize your gift properly it’ll be a mess. There are so many people that are gifted in so many things in life, but they’re slaves to the system; they are failures in life, not because they were not gifted but because they were indiligent.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 19:43:00 +0000