Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 2 Peter 3:14
I never know how, when, or where each day’s inspiration will occur, so I was not surprised when I found myself reading a paragraph about a woman whose commitment, faithfulness, devotion, and diligence to her natural garden was a daily practice. It went on to explain how it was so beautiful that others found themselves stopping by just to see its beauty. However, in order to maintain such a garden, she was found consistently being loyal to the tending, cultivating, pruning, clipping, cutting, and caring for her flowers and plants. It’s not odd that the Lord would use this as an analogy to speak to us today.
As I begin to meditate on how beautiful it would be if we spent as much time daily, as this woman did, cultivating and tending to our relationship with the Lord. If we would just spend time devoted to the caring of it; pruning, clipping and cutting away the dead things that hinder us and keep us from growing properly and more beautifully, how much more we could do and how effective we would be, if we were found being consistent and constant daily with the upkeep with our prayers, our eating habits (the Word), and communing with God. After awhile, it would become a part of our daily routine without thought, without question, and without being prompted to do so.
We should live a life of diligence, which means being persistent and putting forth a hard working effort daily. It means being attentive, thoughtful, meticulous, and careful in our actions regarding the work of the Lord; being fervent and passionate because of the love we have for Him. Like this woman, it’s necessary to have a commitment and a set of principles when it comes to the work of the Lord. In order to maintain, as we liken ourselves to the garden, we have to monitor it and keep watch daily against the elements of the world. There are plenty of bugs, slugs, and things that would desire to attach themselves to us to hinder our growth, because they come to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10). We have to be aware and it behooves us not to be slothful or lazy in our efforts to preserve the garden at cost; giving it our full attention and efforts on a continual basis.
We are a people who are diligent in the things of the world, we diligently go to work, faithfully punch a time clock, we are made aware of our conduct, if it’s not proper, we are reprimanded or face job loss; our conversations our monitored, policies about work ethics, scheduled time for breaks, lunch and vacations, just to name a few things. We work according to schedule, by the time clock; work long hours when told and without question. We may murmur and complain, but we do it. God is not a hard taskmaster as the world, yet He requires the same diligence to our spiritual life. Diligence is the act of doing all things efficiently and relentlessly to the best of one's ability in order to achieve success in every endeavor. What if we applied those same efforts into ourselves and the things of God from whom ALL blessings flow.
This passage is to remind us that the day of the Lord is at hand. He’ll appear unexpectedly and quickly and we must be found ready. This will require some work and some diligence on our part. God has equipped us with all we need in order to walk in Him efficiently and effectively until such time. He has given us all the tools we need to enable us to continue in Him; providing us with all things essential to life and growth.
I don’t know where you may be spending your time and efforts, but God wants us to give our attention and care to the things of the Lord, i.e., prayer, fasting, reading, studying God’s word, salvation firmly fixed, and a commitment to being holy. Let’s find ourselves maintaining our garden; being consistent in our preparation for His return while dwelling in this present world with all diligence!
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde
I never know how, when, or where each day’s inspiration will occur, so I was not surprised when I found myself reading a paragraph about a woman whose commitment, faithfulness, devotion, and diligence to her natural garden was a daily practice. It went on to explain how it was so beautiful that others found themselves stopping by just to see its beauty. However, in order to maintain such a garden, she was found consistently being loyal to the tending, cultivating, pruning, clipping, cutting, and caring for her flowers and plants. It’s not odd that the Lord would use this as an analogy to speak to us today.
As I begin to meditate on how beautiful it would be if we spent as much time daily, as this woman did, cultivating and tending to our relationship with the Lord. If we would just spend time devoted to the caring of it; pruning, clipping and cutting away the dead things that hinder us and keep us from growing properly and more beautifully, how much more we could do and how effective we would be, if we were found being consistent and constant daily with the upkeep with our prayers, our eating habits (the Word), and communing with God. After awhile, it would become a part of our daily routine without thought, without question, and without being prompted to do so.
We should live a life of diligence, which means being persistent and putting forth a hard working effort daily. It means being attentive, thoughtful, meticulous, and careful in our actions regarding the work of the Lord; being fervent and passionate because of the love we have for Him. Like this woman, it’s necessary to have a commitment and a set of principles when it comes to the work of the Lord. In order to maintain, as we liken ourselves to the garden, we have to monitor it and keep watch daily against the elements of the world. There are plenty of bugs, slugs, and things that would desire to attach themselves to us to hinder our growth, because they come to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10). We have to be aware and it behooves us not to be slothful or lazy in our efforts to preserve the garden at cost; giving it our full attention and efforts on a continual basis.
We are a people who are diligent in the things of the world, we diligently go to work, faithfully punch a time clock, we are made aware of our conduct, if it’s not proper, we are reprimanded or face job loss; our conversations our monitored, policies about work ethics, scheduled time for breaks, lunch and vacations, just to name a few things. We work according to schedule, by the time clock; work long hours when told and without question. We may murmur and complain, but we do it. God is not a hard taskmaster as the world, yet He requires the same diligence to our spiritual life. Diligence is the act of doing all things efficiently and relentlessly to the best of one's ability in order to achieve success in every endeavor. What if we applied those same efforts into ourselves and the things of God from whom ALL blessings flow.
This passage is to remind us that the day of the Lord is at hand. He’ll appear unexpectedly and quickly and we must be found ready. This will require some work and some diligence on our part. God has equipped us with all we need in order to walk in Him efficiently and effectively until such time. He has given us all the tools we need to enable us to continue in Him; providing us with all things essential to life and growth.
I don’t know where you may be spending your time and efforts, but God wants us to give our attention and care to the things of the Lord, i.e., prayer, fasting, reading, studying God’s word, salvation firmly fixed, and a commitment to being holy. Let’s find ourselves maintaining our garden; being consistent in our preparation for His return while dwelling in this present world with all diligence!
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde
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