Diligence

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

Sometimes a job can be unpleasant. That was certainly the experience of Pontius Pilate. He had a position of authority granted by the mighty Roman Empire. Yet that position of authority, for all its perks, was often a difficult burden to bear.

Governing the Jews was no easy task. They hated foreigners. They were intolerant of other religions. And they were quick to revolt against the Roman peacekeepers—some, like Barabbas, were willing to go so far as to commit murder. The Jewish leaders had sent several complaints about Governor Pilate back to his superiors in Rome, who were putting increasing pressure on him to keep the peace. Then, during a religious festival when Jerusalem was packed with fanatics, the religious elite brought him a man whom they wanted put to death—Jesus of Nazareth. They claimed that he was dangerous to the Roman occupation, that he stirred up the people with talk of freedom from oppression. Yet when Pilate interviewed Jesus, it was clear that this man was no political threat, nor had he broken any laws. It was Pilate’s job to enforce the rule of law; legally, Jesus ought to go free. But the Jewish leaders were willing to unleash a riot in order to get their way. Ultimately, Pilate took the easy way out—he let the Jews have their execution. Pilate’s unwillingness to do his job when things got hard resulted in the crucifixion of the innocent Son of God, the greatest miscarriage of justice in the history of the world.

Our world needs more diligence and less laziness. People live on government support and have no desire to support themselves. Some employees do the minimum amount of work they can get away with and still earn a paycheck; others arrive late, leave early, and take longer breaks than they’re entitled to. Parents let the TV entertain their children and avoid disciplining their kids for bad behavior. Kids in school cheat on tests in order to get a passing grade. Many would rather buy microwavable dinners than make a meal from scratch; others would just as soon eat out and avoid having to cook at all.

Where is the diligence? How many people take satisfaction in completing a hard day’s work? How many care deeply about the quality of the products they make or the service that they offer? How many workers think of their job as a way to meet the needs of others? How many believe that hard work is not only necessary for a healthy body, but that it also contributes to a healthy soul?

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.

Jesus spoke about laziness while teaching in the Temple during Holy Week. He told the story of a wealthy man who went on a long journey. Before leaving, this individual gave money to his servants to invest during his absence. When he finally returned, the man praised two of his servants for working hard to make his money grow. But the third servant got no praise from his master; all he did was hide the money in a secure location, claiming that he was afraid to lose it through bad investments. But the master understood what was really going on; he called the servant wicked and lazy. The servant did nothing with his master’s money because he did not want to be responsible for it—simple as that. As punishment, the servant was thrown out of his master’s house to live forever in a place of darkness and suffering. Through this story, Jesus communicated an important truth to His followers: From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Luke 12:48). Laziness wastes time that could be used to serve the Lord.

Someone who is passionate works hard; he is fully committed to whatever he does. A Christian dedicates everything He does to the Lord. He looks forward to work, because through working he serves God’s purposes here on earth. He is careful to do quality work, because he wants to honor God with his efforts. 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. He sets priorities and avoids distractions, because he knows that time is precious and limited. 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 (Colossians 3:23).

But passion for the Lord’s work goes beyond the workplace; it also includes effort on behalf of the Church. Jesus gave every Christian a job to do in the spiritual arena: you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). And there is urgency attached to this work, because time is not an endless commodity—Jesus said, As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work (John 9:4). Passionate commitment to God’s work also includes devotion to His teachings and rejection of every attempt to dilute them with human ideas, rationalizations, or compromises. Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32). It is hard work to be a committed Christian, but Jesus promises rich reward for our efforts on His behalf.

One hard worker of the Bible is Jacob. Jacob had to flee from home after he made his brother angry. With nowhere else to go, he headed north to Haran to seek employment from his uncle Laban. When he arrived, he met Laban’s daughter Rachel—a woman of beauty who tended sheep for her father. She immediately captured Jacob’s heart; having nothing else to offer as compensation, he offered to be Laban’s hired man for seven years in exchange for taking Rachel as his wife. But at the end of the seven years, Laban pulled a fast one—he gave Jacob his older daughter Leah instead, claiming that it was improper to marry off the younger daughter first. But, he added, Jacob could also have Rachel in exchange for an additional seven years of labor. Jacob agreed and Rachel was his.

Why is Jacob an example of hard and faithful work? First, he was willing to work for seven years to earn the thing he prized the most—Rachel’s hand in marriage. And when Laban changed the rules on him, Jacob did not get frustrated and quit—instead, he agreed to seven more years of work in order to gain his heart’s desire. Jacob understood that you have to work for the things you want.

We live in a dark and evil world. Jesus came among us to drive back the darkness with the light of His love. We help drive back the darkness of evil when we work hard for things that matter.