Diligence

If a man does not work, he shall not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

When Jesus came to live among us, He took His work very seriously. Jesus never goofed off or took shortcuts. When something unpleasant needed to be done, He rolled up His sleeves and got to it. His job was to bring God’s righteousness to a world fatally in love with wickedness. Inevitably, then, Jesus’ work involved confrontation. He confronted merchants who set up shop in the Temple precincts. He confronted people who taught false religion. He confronted the devil himself. And He confronted our sins on the cross. Jesus worked tirelessly to push back evil and reveal the glory of God’s truth.

We should be grateful that Jesus took His work so seriously. Because of his unwavering commitment, we have been rescued from sin and the hell it leads to. Saving us was no easy task; Christ suffered everything the devil could throw at Him in order to bring us back to God. The Son of God died so that we might live eternally. If He had not been fully committed to His cause, He might have chosen to avoid the cross, saving Himself from pain but dooming us to everlasting pain instead.

God looks for whole-hearted commitment from us as well. He expects our complete loyalty; He expects us to serve Him with all that we are and have. In Revelation chapter three, our Lord condemned a group of Christians for not taking their faith seriously enough: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot…So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. God wants more from us than just being wishy-washy; He wants us to be passionate about life.

Someone who is passionate works hard; he is fully committed to whatever he does. A Christian dedicates everything He does to the Lord. He is careful to do quality work, because through working he serves God’s purposes here on earth. He wants to earn enough money to support the church, take care of his family, and still have something left to share with the needy. He does his work with care and planning, so that the result of his efforts will benefit many people for a long time to come. He works so that he will be a blessing to others, not a burden. He doesn’t give up when faced with problems, because he trusts in the Lord to bring about a satisfactory result. And when he is tempted to sluff off at work, the Christian finds renewed motivation in Paul’s advice: Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do (Ephesians 6:7-8).