According to Proverbs 12:24, “the hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute” (KJV). God wants you to be diligent in life, and as you can tell from the Scripture verse above, those who are diligent rule in life whereas those who are not are ruled by life. For many people life is ruling them instead of them ruling life.
God created you in His image and likeness so you would live life, and not for life to live you. Those who are being lived by life are those who take life for granted, and as you probably are aware; if you take life for granted, life will also take you for granted. When your attitude toward life is casual, life will have no other choice but to treat you casually. The fact is: life responds in the way you treat it.
In First Chronicles chapter 4, verses 9 and 10, the Bible tells us that there was a man by the name Jabez who was born amidst adverse circumstances. Since this man was born with setbacks, his attitude toward life was quite casual, and because he took life for granted, life also took him for granted until he woke up - he changed his attitude toward life and became upbeat, euphoric and optimistic, and guess what? God turned his life and destiny around.
Those who take life for granted never succeed. The diligent never take life for granted, and because their attitude toward life is rosy, success never evade, escape or elude them. In Proverbs 22:29, the Bible asks: “seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” This verse is saying that when you are diligent, you will not be ordinary but great. How diligent are you? There are three major symptoms of those who are neither diligent nor serious-minded.
Firstly, those who are not diligent have the symptom of instability. Instability is one of the qualities of the absence of diligence, and it is the quality of not being stable in life. The opposite of diligence is dilatory, and dilatory simply means to be slow, to be unhurried and to lack seriousness. If you are not serious-minded, obviously you are unstable, and if you are unstable, you certainly are double minded, and James 1:8 reveals that; “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” From this verse of Scripture, you notice that those who are diligent are stable in all their ways.
Secondly, those who are not diligent show the symptom of unreliability. Unreliability has to do with the quality of not being dependable. Simply, anyone who is unreliable, cannot be counted on. Proverbs 10:4 points out that: “the hand of the diligent maketh rich.” Did you see that? If you are diligent you will be empowered to succeed. In other words, if you are reliable, consistent and faithful whether at work, at home, at church and in your pursuit of life, you will eventually succeed.
Thirdly, those who are not diligent show the symptom of procrastination. Procrastination as you know has to do with the quality of postponing or deferring to another time. Those who procrastinate are almost always slow or late in doing things, and because they procrastinate, they never get things done.
If any of the above symptoms describe you, you are then not diligent and taking life for granted. If you are indecisive, unstable in your ways, unreliable, inconsistent and you procrastinate a lot, diligence is what you need. I pray for God to help you to develop a diligent spirit in Jesus' name!
Dr. Sadick Arthur is the Senior Pastor, along with his lovely wife Maame Boatemaa, of International Central Gospel Church in Northern Virginia. He is a multi-gifted and dynamic teacher of the Word of God. As a man of God and a gentleman of unlimited potential, Dr. Arthur has distinguished himself as a caring, loving and anointed pastor.
He has authored several books and is a seasoned extraordinary motivational speaker. He pioneered the planting and establishment of ICGC in New York and quite recently the Virginia Assembly of ICGC.He speaks extensively on issues relating to self-improvement, social, economic and spiritual empowerment. His passion and desire is to see each person to whom he minister become all that God has created them to be. For more on Dr. Sadick Arthur, visit www.icgcva.org
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