2 Peter 1: 5-10. Jude v 3. Proverbs 4:23; 6:6-7. Luke 12:58-59.
But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6.And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren, nor be unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8.
At the beginning of this conversation last week, we went into some details to explain what diligence and service mean. That, for a service to be considered diligent, it must be persevering, conscientious painstaking, rigorous and high degree of carefulness, hard work and labor with integrity and effective result.
Today, we will x-ray why we must be diligent in whatever we do. Whether to God , to Society or to humanity. Strictly speaking, there is little line of distinction in these services regarding the way they should be done and their results. This point must be reaffirmed because many people think that there are varied standards between God’s work and that of man or society. Any work of labor or service meant to benefit man , and approved by God as acceptable and noble, must be carried out with diligence.
Why do we need diligence in our service?
We must apply diligence to our service because that is the nature of God.
In Genesis 1-2, the Bible tells us that after creation, God saw that it was good. Indeed, the work of creation couldn’t have been any better. It was and still remains a master piece in beauty, order and mystery. Take a look at our human body, the firmaments, the moon and the stars as well as the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air. They are a sight of goodness, elegance and painstaking harmony. Only a diligent God could have done it. Praise Him! Even the making of the Babel in Genesis 11 couldn’t have been more diligent. That we speak our different languages– and they don’t clash, or misrepresent, or conflict is very ingenious, of diligence. Even when the wordings appear similar, they are all together varied in usage, context s d meaning. God is really great in POWER and might. Fear Him!
Beyond the fact of our being born again, we need diligence to convince God that we are truly His. This is what Hebrews 11:6 is telling us. You must be a diligent seeker of God to convince Him that you belong to Him. The reason is simple: God doesn’t want to share His glory with anybody. Besides, He has a lot of goodness, kindness and love to bestow upon mankind. Giving these privileges and benefits to double minds, unconvinced believers or fake believers would amount to putting gold in a swine’s snot. Or an apple mired with feaces. Therefore to profit from God eternally, you must be diligent. In fact , nobody who isn’t diligent will be persevering and conscientious and rigorous to be holy as to qualify to attain heaven. When you also study the lives of those Heroes of Faith in that Hebrews 11, you will understand that they were all diligent seekers of God. Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Daniel and David, for instance.
Apostle Peter is clear to tell us that our christian faith begins with our being diligent. Anybody contesting this truth should consider the life of Cain. Whereas Abel was diligent to offer quality service, Cain did otherwise. And we all know the outcome. He showed no diligence. Any believer that lacks diligence can exchange it for carelessness and indifference as Esau also did. To build a character of discipline requires diligence. Add to your faith Diligence…and so it goes.
Therefore, when a believer lacks diligence, it would be hard to put on, and to abound in knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity. And when these character qualities are not present in a person of faith, it would be hard to believe that he / she is indeed a child of God. Titus 2:11-13.
Diligence makes you study God’s word line upon line, precept upon precept. This is also the difference between believers, students or other shades of employees in whatever field. Diligence helps your patience, your care and your considerations for what is right, what is fair and what is proper, to do. And to do it well. That’s what Apostle Peter is teaching us in that letter.
Many believers today, and in fact most people appropriate all privileges and benefits inherent in the grace of God. But sadly,, but wilfully shirk of the responsibilities and accountabilities that go with them. Consider politicians, government appointees, private and public office holders as well as the rank and file personnel in all offices who collect salaries, but hard earn them because they are indolent, irresponsible and unaccountable. They lack transparency and integrity required to obtain results in what they claim to be doing. Such people have God and man to contend with in life and destiny. As we progress, I challenge you to ask yourself: where am I involved?
Even those of us in the pulpit ministry are not left behind. When you pray less than your capacity; when you study or read less than you should; when you lazily prepare for that message or spiritual engagement; when you give less than your receivables or earnings– you miss the point in: DILIGENCE in Service.
You may be the highest tither or most generous, yet, you are doing it with little diligence, below your capacity or without accountability or responsibility or integrity.
Diligence demands that you do all with honest rigor. That way you are honoring God. And He will reward you most abundantly. Proverbs 3:9-10 tells us to honor God with our giftings. Indolent and careless people can hardly do.
Meanwhile, there are certain critical areas of life that God demands Diligence from us His CHILDREN. Here we go.
God wants us to hearken to His words and voice with diligence. Exodus 15:26, 17:24 and Zachariah 8:15. When God speaks, He wants you to obey.
To keep or guard our hearts with all diligence. This will enable us to remember all the things we have experienced with God. This heart is also the centre of our lives. Anytime our hearts are compromised in thoughts , then all our goings and doings will become impaired. We must diligently protect our HEART.
Deuteronomy 4:9.
To teach God’s word to our children diligently. This is to perpetuate God’s word and fear to the generations. Deuteronomy 6:7. Families who don’t do this have themselves to blame because it’s what you sow that you reap . Galatians 6:7. Remember Eli in 1 Samuel.
To diligently keep His commands . This is because God will judge all who make light of His commands . Deuteronomy 6:27. Every word of God is a command. Ignore it to your disadvantage in the long run. Hebrews 9:27;10:31
To hearken to God’s commandments. And indeed, to all the commandments. These are laws of engagement between God and His people. You cannot be a child of God and operate with rules of the Devil. Same sex marriage. Or serial polygamy, for instance. Deuteronomy 11:13, 22. They are not just the ten commandments, but all the instructions Jesus gave us on the sermon on the mount. Many unwisely claim not to be under the law, hence do so many foolish things. As believers, we have a higher obligation to keeping the law than those before us. Therefore God demands higher moral and spiritual obedience from us as BELIEVERS . No wonder the Bible tells us that God’s judgement would begin from His household.
God also wants us to inquire of the truth diligently. Nobody would have any excuse on the Last Day because the onus is on everybody to search for the truth with some diligence. If we fail , we blame ourselves. Self – responsibility. Nobody to blame. Deuteronomy 13:24; 27:4.
To also observe proper and diligent teaching of His word, as Ezra did. The Bible says Ezra prepared his heart to study the word and to teach it to God’s people. Ezra 7:10. Deuteronomy 24:8.
Many teachers of God’s word do it without some carefulness. As a teacher of God’s word, you don’t have such liberty, except for those who are not contending for the faith, according to Jude v3. Happy Sunday.
God bless. Concluded.
ABOUT THE PREACHER
Pastor Okoro is a revivalist, and marriage counselor. He could be reached on:
08051000462.
©All Bible references are from
KJV. except otherwise stated.
December 4, 2022.
DISCLAIMER.
Our attention has been drawn to the EVIL activities some satanic agents who claim to be representing me or our ministry to solicit for funds for our non- existent School. They also promise their victims employment or contract the said school. They fraudsters. They fake. They don’t represent me nor our ministry which name they don’t know. Please avoid them. They include:
1. Barr Ben Ezeh.
0903-431-3983; 0706-460-8647.
Bank Details:
Fidelity Bank.
Account Name:
Mercy Eberechukwu Chinedu.
6980007500.2. Mr Adams and Barr Johnson Osagie.
0810-545 – 5865.
Bank Details.
Eco Bank.
Account Name:
Collins Maku.
8105648348.3. Michael Ebube Chinedu.
0905-654-2393.
+6281-313- 662990.
+62831-366- 29906.
Bank Details.
Fidelity Bank.
Account Name.
Michael Ebube Ogua.
6559105499.Be warned.
E-Signed.
