THE EXTRAORDINARY PROFIT OF DILIGENCE IN A WELL-SPENT LIFE

Hebrews 6:11, 12; 2 Peter 1:10; 3:13,14                                     
The Lord wants us to be diligent in order to lead a well-spent life. Diligence makes life happy and profitable. A well-spent life is well organised in every area and brings a positive, productive, rewardable fruit here on earth and in the great beyond. On the contrary, negligence is wasteful and unprofitable. Negligence in essential matters of life like salvation, holiness, consistent walk with God, fruitfulness in the Lord, marriage, family welfare, profession, health issues and spiritual activity, calling and commission will lead to painful regrets. Negligence results from procrastination, habitual delays, imaginary fears, bad association, wrong influence, cheap distracting pleasures, thoughtless carelessness, misplaced priorities and spiritual blindness. Anyone that is negligent will not be able to achieve anything or much in life. To make a mark in life, we must make up our minds to be diligent in whatever we do for God, ourselves, families and profession like Moses, Joshua and David who diligently lived well-spent lifestyle that impacted their generations. Therefore, “give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall”. 1. THE EXCLUSIVE AND EXTENSIVE PROMISE TO DILIGENT SEEKERSHebrews 11:6; Luke 13:23,24; 15:8-10; Isaiah 55:2; Psalm 119:1-4; Proverbs 4:20-23; Matthew 6:33 God’s promise to the diligent who seek Him with the whole strength, mind, focus and concentration is both exclusive and extensive. Everyone who desires to bear fruit and fulfil the purpose of his creation, reconciliation with God and salvation must understand that “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). There is no promise for those who half-heartedly, occasionally and seasonally seek the Lord. Connection with God is the most important thing on earth. Therefore, repentance and faith in Christ’s finished work at Calvary is the best decision anyone can take at the moment. One who seeks the Lord for salvation and further obtains victory over temptation and sin, enjoys the extensiveness of the promise which gives fruitfulness, holiness, sanctification, Holy Ghost power, “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” and a glorious destiny in heaven.The key to a successful, profitable, happy, hopeful, brighter, wider, self-sufficient and self-reliant life to the maximum is being diligent. If you have lost your fervency, zeal, faith, courage and boldness, you need to seek them diligently and not haphazardly, half-heartedly, occasionally or seasonally. Only diligence will make life amount to something wonderful. It is painful that many people who come to church do not “hearken diligently”. Thus, they miss the word, sentence, prophetic utterance or key that should open the door of abundant life for them. Diligent people “seek him with the whole heart”. They come to God with everything they have and seek Him with all their strength and faith. They put aside those things that hinder communication, fellowship and relationship with the Lord because negligence cuts short joy and happiness. To enjoy the promise, we must diligently search, read, understand the Word and claim the promise therein. “For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh”. We will enjoy divine blessings, breakthrough and satisfaction if we seek “first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness”. 2. THE EXTREME AND EXCESSIVE PERIL OF NEGLIGENT SOULSHebrews 2:1-3; 4:1,2; Luke 12:19-21; Jeremiah 48:11,4,13,15,16,20,25,26,36,38 Fallen man is often negligent and throws away vital parts of his life by bits and pieces. He is spiritually and morally negligent. That is why there are lots of needs and confusion in their lives. While some people are professionally negligent, others are thoughtlessly negligent. We must learn to use our understanding and education to become professionally efficient. Opportunities, privileges and promises can be lost if we are negligent. Although the rich fool had enough in secular and business life, he had nothing spiritually. “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:20,21). The result of negligence is moral delinquency and wasted life or living daily without improvement, growth or achievement. Also, in the life of the negligent, there is affliction and suffering, family problems, separation and divorce, bondage and oppression, perdition, backsliding and eternal punishment.
Although other things in our lives are important, “How shall we escape” weakness, impotence, incapacity and fruitlessness if we neglect salvation, sanctification and power of the Holy Ghost? How shall we escape failure if we neglect opportunities in our profession, family, friends and the people who can be helpful to us? Believers who are negligent are neutral and passive instead of being active. They stand still instead of moving forward, talk away their chances instead of teaching; they are idle instead of being industrious, ponder instead of praying, do nothing instead of doing something and worry instead of worshipping. We need to be diligent because negligence brings weakness, ineffectiveness, tardiness, backwardness, lukewarmness, lack of progress and eternal loss. We must beware of negligence because those who are always at ease will eventually incur calamity. 3. THE EXPANSIVE AND EXCEPTIONAL POSSESSION OF DILIGENT SAINTSProverbs 22:29; 27:23; Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 28:1-13; 2 Peter 1:5-10; 3:13, 14 “And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26). Diseases are not the lot of those who diligently keep God’s word and pray to Him. Thus, we must be diligent in seeking the Lord, living for, serving and obeying Him in personal/family concerns, personal commitment to others’ needs and our profession. Besides, we must be diligent in keeping the covenant with God, the royal law and the golden rule. If we do these, we will enjoy expansive and exceptional possession on earth and in heaven. We will have all the strength, power, abilities and privileges we need, expand and become extensive, and the Lord will do the incredible in our lives. The Lord has promised to give us new strength and vision to get to the top of the mountain. Therefore, we should “be diligent to know the state of [our] flocks, and look well to [our] herds” (Proverbs 27:23). As diligent saints, we have a great responsibility to know the spiritual state of our family, children, members and converts.