I heard of a preacher who would regularly speak to young people about the importance of gaining “blanket victory”- that is, victory over the temptation to waste away the day in bed. His point was to remind young people of the importance of waking up at a reasonable time and getting on with the business of the day in order to accomplish something worthwhile. He made the point that if one couldn’t get victory over their “blanket”, then it was unlikely they could get victory over other areas of their life due to lack of self-discipline.
Matthew Henry once said: “The devil visits idle men with his temptations. God visits industrious men with His favors.” In the book of Proverbs, we are reminded of this truth! The book of Proverbs emphasizes the value of diligence and the curse of laziness in a person’s life. Proverbs 12:24 & 27 read, “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute…The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.” God rewards diligence (i.e., good ol’ hard work). These verses make it clear that the man who is diligent is the one who tends to get promoted in this life. However, the lazy man lacks the self-control to rule over himself and is, therefore, ruled by others. In other words, the diligent rise to the top while the slothful sink to the bottom. In v. 27, we find a rather humorous illustration of a slothful man who made the effort to hunt for wild game yet went hungry because he was too lazy to finish the job of cooking it!
This principle of diligence has been seen in the lives of many people who seemed to face insurmountable odds, yet rose to the occasion, persevered through difficulty, and overcame what seemed to be an obstacle. There are many in our nation’s history with “rags to riches” stories that show how diligence brought them out of poverty.
As Christians, however, our reason for diligence is not material gain. It is not to fulfill the “American Dream” or to “Keep up with the Joneses’”. It is not for the building of our own “earthly kingdom”. Rather, the principle of diligence in the life of a Christian ought to be practiced in the context of a life being lived out for the glory of God. It is realizing that God expects my daily responsibilities to be done “…heartily, as to the LORD, and not unto men” (Colossians 3:23). When we realize that all we have been given to do on earth is for the advancement of His glory, it makes the most mundane jobs fulfilling. For such a realization reminds us that every aspect of work, even the most mundane, is truly worship when done for His glory. And when we realize that we can worship God everyday through diligent work for His glory, it ought to motivate us to get out of bed in the morning and get to work!
~Pastor Aaron Francis
