Devotional for Sunday, October 23, 2016
“The Precious Possession of Diligence”
by Dona Hake
Proverbs 12:27b Amplified Bible (AMP)
“…But the precious possession of a [wise] man is diligence
[because he recognizes opportunities and seizes them].”
I love this scripture for it shows us that if one seeks to be diligent he is developing something that is a precious possession. Oh that we would ask our Lord to help us recognize opportunities coupled with strategies to seize them! The diligent hand proceeds from the heart that desires to live productively in everything. It is so rewarding to experience the fruit of accomplishment after we have done what we know we should be doing.
I feel one very important thing in developing diligence is respecting the time you have been given every day. We cannot afford to waste time but must seek to use it wisely. A farmer or a person that does vegetable gardening understands the importance of diligence to maintain a healthy and thriving garden. After of summer of diligently weeding and tending a garden or crop, the harvest is going to come. Once that plentiful harvest comes it must be frozen or canned. Whatever the choice of preserving it, it must be done, and there is no time to waste. It is such a blessing to pull a vegetable out of your freezer or a canned veggie or fruit in the cold of winter. Oh the joy of enjoying the fruit of your planning and diligent, hard working hands!
I have a lovely little hour glass and as the sand flows through it, there is a measure of time that passes. This little hour glass reminds me that once that sand flows through it that a particular “time” has passed and I can not get it back. Many times people fail to realize the time that they are living in. We have all been blessed with twenty four hours in a day, and each of us has a special assignment in this life. May we be good stewards over our time, use it wisely, and be diligent to seize opportunities for His glory. Just as harvest comes and it calls for our diligence in a specific time of planning, there are also other things in life that require our diligence in order that we sow, reap, and enjoy blessings.
I encourage you today to desire the heart and hands of the diligent and be blessed. Guard you time and spend it wisely!
Proverbs 21:5 Amplified Bible
“The thoughts of the [steadily] diligent
“The thoughts of the [steadily] diligent
tend only to plenteousness…”