Mensa Otabil - A Diligent Life (10/31/2025)
I want to talk about diligence today. Proverbs 12 verse 24 states, «The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor.» Diligence is critical for all our life’s endeavors. To be diligent is to be careful and persistent in what we do, and the Lord requires that we apply diligence to our worship and our work. Whether we are worshiping God or working, we must do what we do with diligence. We cannot be absent-minded when we are worshiping God or when we’re praying, and we cannot be absent-minded when we are working. Whether in worship or in work, we must be diligent about what we are doing. So, the phrase «diligent hand» refers to those who approach the things they commit themselves to with seriousness. When we say that a person has a diligent hand, it means that they are very serious about what they do and they give everything they have to what they do.
So, what does it require for us to be diligent? First, we must make the most of our time. A diligent person is someone who does not waste time. God works with time and through time. Although He is an eternal God and lives in timelessness, when it comes to His relationship with us, He created day and night, and He created seasons. God has designed human life to be accomplished in time and through time. Wasting time is wasting God’s purposes and plans for your life. If you believe God wants to do great things with you and you believe God has a plan for your life, then you have to have a plan for your time. You can’t just live time anyhow, go anyhow, talk to anybody, and let people manipulate and waste your time. This year, let’s be particular about the way we respond to time.
In addition to being conscious about time, we must give ourselves to hard work. A diligent person is a hard worker. There are some Christians who see hard work as something they should avoid because people have managed to think that hard work is not a blessing or is a curse. People talk about all kinds of success that do not require hard work, but that concept is not found in the Bible, either in the Old Testament or in the New Testament. You don’t find the idea that you become successful without hard work. Hard work is foundational to everything we do. Even when we pray, we must pray with diligence; we must pray very earnestly. When we worship, we must put hard work into what we do. When we work, it has to be our hard work. Right from the beginning, when you look at the Garden of Eden, God said to man, after He created him, to work the land, dress it, and keep it. Adam had to work very hard to ensure that the garden God had given him was preserved. So, we need to be mindful of time, and we need to work hard.
Number three, we must pay attention to what we do; we must focus. We cannot work hard to produce work or worship that is of value. We must see the details and be mindful of the things we are doing. When we are doing something, we think it through. We think about it; we think about the results we want. We think about how we want it to work. You cannot just do things anyhow and expect to get beneficial results. We have to pay attention. A diligent person is one who makes the most of their time, who is committed to hard work, pays attention, focuses, sees the details, and works those details in all that they do.
Number four, a diligent person is one who starts and finishes. You don’t just start and give up because it’s tough or difficult. If you’re diligent, you’re going to see your projects through. So, this year, let us be diligent. Let us be mindful of how we use time. Let us work hard. Let us pay attention to details, and let us work things through so by the end of the year, you can say, «I have diligently pursued this line of action» and see the results that God has given to me. May the Lord cause your diligent hand to rule over the year 2022 in Jesus' name. Amen.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, help me to be diligent in all I do. I commit to give my best in all I do. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»