DILIGENT HANDS AT WORK (4)

“The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in ALL to which YOU SET YOUR HAND…” – Deuteronomy 28:8a

Blessings follow DILIGENT HANDS at WORK just as surely as reaping follows sowing: “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in ALL to which YOU SET YOUR HAND, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Dt.28:8). Verse 12a says: “The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season, and to bless ALL the WORK of YOUR HAND….” God’s promise is give rain to the lands of our lives and to command His Blessing on us. Our responsibility is to engage our HANDS at WORK. Or else, God has nothing to bless! Earlier verses refer to the produce of our ground, increase of our livestock, offspring of our flocks, and our basket and kneading bowl (vv.4-5,11). All are products of diligent hands at work.

Diligence is conscientiousness in paying proper attention to a task. It is the exercise of carefulness and persistence in pursuing excellence in any endeavour in order to achieve a determined goal; giving the degree of care required in a particular situation. Diligence means putting our very best into our work by paying attention to detail. Success is not an accident. Diligence is a vital success principle. For example, a student who attends classes, follows the lectures, diligently studies, and carries out assignments, is far more likely to be successful than not.

Diligence is exuding commitment and perseverance in transforming our vision into reality. David exemplified Diligence. His life’s story unveils the character of diligence and the amazing results it produces. As a teenager, David’s diligence in tending his father’s sheep gave him the experience he later used in defeating Goliath, the giant of Gath. He’d learnt to confront fear and deal with challenges head-on. He once wrestled and killed a lion, and a bear, in his task of keeping the lambs. The Message Bible says, “Observe people who are good at their work – skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don’t take a back seat to anyone” (Pro.22:29).

Diligence always leads, irrespective of the aspect of life. The diligent person spreads diligence. As we lead and generate testimonies of success through diligence, we inspire diligence in others. God wants to point at us for others to see and be motivated. God blesses dreams, but not daydreamers. We must get up and go to work! That has been God’s Mind from inception: “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (Gen.2:15). Right from his creation, God put Adam to work, because productivity is essential to self-esteem. Let’s discern where we belong and be diligent, then when something needs to be done, God knows who to call:

Just as blessings follow diligent hands, poverty, hunger, and shame are the lot of lazy, idle, indolent, or slothful hands:

“He who has a SLACK HAND becomes POOR, but the HAND of the DILIGENT makes RICH” (Pro.10:4).

“The soul of a LAZY MAN desires, and has NOTHING; but the soul of the DILGENT shall be made RICH” (Pro.13:4).

“Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, and an IDLE person will suffer HUNGER” (Pro.19:15).

“The LAZY MAN will not plow because of winter; he will beg during harvest and have NOTHING” (Pro.20:4).

Beyond being diligent in few things – our areas of expertise, diligence is a quality of the human spirit. God’s goal is for us to be diligent persons – all round, if we’re going to successfully accomplish His purposes for our lives. Diligence is a virtue we must imbibe and practise daily: In academics, career or profession, in prayer, in studying the Word, in fellowship with the Holy Spirit and with brethren, and in all aspects of life. As we nurture this quality, God will bless and promote us continually, elevating us to positions of positive influence and impact: “And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath” (v.13a).