Three months before I started college I was in the middle of my prayer time when God spoke two words to my spirit that deeply impacted my life. God said, “Be diligent.” Two days later, I spent some time with John Tasch, my children’s pastor when I was young. As he encouraged me, he spoke the same message, “Daniel, as you start your studies, the word of the Lord for you is to “be diligent.” A few days later, another mentor, Pastor Billy Allen gave virtually the same message again when he was praying over me. Within a one-week period, I received a message from God and two confirmations of the message from people I greatly respected. At first, I thought this was a short message from God that only applied to my first semester but it turns out the instruction to be diligent was for my entire four years of college and even beyond. Now, many years later, as I reflect upon this word from God, I realize that God gave me a Word of Wisdom at a crucial time in my life.
Diligence: having or showing care and conscientiousness in one’s work or duties.
This is the key to promotion.
Proverbs 10:4 “The hand of the diligent maketh rich.” (KJV)
Proverbs 10:4 …diligent hands bring wealth (NIV)
Proverbs 10:4 (NKJV) He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Proverbs 12:24 “The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.”
Proverbs 13:4 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
Some people want God to bless them, but they don’t want to do anything.
Proverbs 21:5 “The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plentyness, but the thoughts of the lazy tend toward want.”
(Proverbs 21:5 NKJV) The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.
Proverbs 27:23 Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds;
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments, and that bridge must be crossed every day. – Jerry Grillo
Diligent means you do something day after day after day.
Deuteronomy 6:17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you.
Deuteronomy 28:1 “…if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.
Psalm 119:4 You have commanded us To keep Your precepts diligently.
Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.
2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Paul tells Timothy: 2 Timothy 4:9 “Be diligent to come to me quickly”
The grace approach to diligence:
Some people might say, “I live under grace, so I don’t need to be diligent. If anything is going to happen, it is not going to happen because of my work, it will happen because of what God does.” But when we look at Scripture, we find that even under grace, we still have to be diligent.
Hebrews 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
2 Peter 3:14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
God is a rewarder of the diligent.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
About Daniel King
Evangelist Daniel King, D.Min is on a mission to lead people to Jesus. He has visited over seventy nations preaching good news and he has led over two million people in a salvation prayer. To support King Ministries in our quest for souls, click here!
