“ The Importance of Having a Diligent Spirit ”
Psalms 119:4
‘Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently’
1- The word diligent is a biblical word that is used to express the need
to show great care and conscientiousness in one’s work or duties in
spiritual matters.
To be CONSCIENTIOUS is desiring to do what is right.
-or- to do one’s work or duty well and thoroughly.
Let me interject at the outset that we are all striving to here hear the Lord say “ Well Done, thy good and faithful servant”
In order to hear the words Well Done – We have to do it well!
Well-done is a task or undertaking carried out successfully or satisfactorily.
It also means to be thorough – or to be done completely!
( If like your STEAK to be cooked all the way through
you will ask for the steak to be cooked Well-Done )
That means that the cook will have to make sure it is cooked all the way through!
If it comes to your table even the slightest bit pink inside – you can send it back and request a new steak!
It is my humble opinion that when God is looking for a servitude that He is wanting it to be WELL –DONE !
To be done all the way through, leaving nothing undone or left out!
Joshua 11:15
‘As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.’
One of the many complaints Jesus had with the Pharisees was the fact that they were not diligent about spiritual matters .
Luke 11:42 "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give
God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone’
It is important to know that God does not overlook what we don’t do by what is done or accomplished in our lives.
This is what he was telling the Pharisees:
You make sure you give the tenth of everything that you own
But
You fail to do the do the other things that are important to you spiritual life.
Jesus said to the man that said that he kept the Law of Moses from his youth up.
Jesus said ‘But there is one thing that you still lack!’
The man was looking for a pat on the back for all of his accomplishments !
Jesus was looking for a diligent / Conscientious Spirit!
In other words – someone who was making sure that NOTHING WAS UNDONE in their life!
A diligent Spirit is a person who will not settle for something HALF DONE!
Hosea 7:8 says of Ephraim ‘Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.’
The people of Israel mingled with godless people and nations, making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake!
Cooked on one side and doughy on the other!
When it comes to our service to the Lord we can not do it half way!
Half done – or – half way is WORTHLESS to God!
He called it a cake not turned!
When we MIX with worldliness – we are a cake not turned!
Worldliness is a SPIRIT! – or attitude ( in other words we pick up the attitude of the world we live in)
There is a danger of fulfilling spiritual practices with a worldly spirit!
First of all men justify their lives because they go to church and pray and sing and do spiritual things!
( We say of the church world – that many go to church only to sooth their conscience and then go right back to what they were before they came)
Israel worshipped Idols and they also worshipped Jehovah !
You can not mix the world with spirituality – they do not mix!
Like oil and water – they are meant to be separated!
When we try to mix worldliness and spirituality – we can try to justify it – but it is still a cake not turned!
That is the second danger – God sees not a diligent servant
But rather a half-baked – half -hearted servant !
II – A Diligent Spirit – leaves NO ROOM for anything less!
When a person has a diligent spirit – it completely fills their life to the place that there isn’t any room for:
Complacency - Contented to a fault; self-satisfied and unconcerned
Apathy – an absence of emotion or enthusiasm, Lack of interest or
concern
Slothfulness – disinclined to work - lazy
Worldliness - concern with worldly affairs to the neglect of spiritual
needs
III -People who are diligent are constant in their effort to accomplish
something; They are attentive and persistent in whatever they do.
Exodus 15:26
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.
1- We are to be diligent in hearing the voice of God
2- we are to be diligent in doing what is right in God’s sight
3- A diligent spirit will preserve you
Deuteronomy 4:9
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;
1- We are to diligently take special attention to our self!
2- We are to diligently keep our soul – or to guard your life with great diligence.
3- There is a danger of forgetting – if you are not diligent about spiritual matters.
4- Danger of them departing from our heart.
5- We must be diligent about passing the things we have seen to the next generation!
6- Diligent people see the need to KEEP THE FAITH ALIVE!
Deuteronomy 6:7
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
IV -A lack of diligence will cause us to lose that which we have
received! BUT
A spirit of diligence can cause us to find what we have lost
Luke 15:8
Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?
Hebrews 11:6
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.
God rewards our diligence – if we seek him first! Seeking the kingdom of God is never half-hearted ,it is to be with great diligence.
Hebrews 12:15
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
1- We are to diligent watch for one another – to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God’s grace
2- Also, ( to make sure) there is no root of bitterness in our heart !
Closing
We are to Diligently be making preparation for the coming of the Lord
2 Peter 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
