We all need to work diligently in order to keep our Christian life fresh. Jesus has opened to us the new and living way; not an old and dead way. That is a reminder for us to keep our walk with the Lord fresh and with renewal every day. It is good to recognize our need to be reminded because we are human beings and we may tend to forget things. Let us look today at 3 areas where we need to work diligently for the purpose of keeping our spiritual life fresh continuously.
The first area is the area of laziness. It can be called the ‘lion of laziness’. Sometimes our laziness may prevent us from working in the way that God wants. In Proverbs 26:3-15 we read, “The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A lion is in the open square!” As the door turns on its hinges, So does the sluggard on his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.” When we are lazy, we will have a tendency to find obstacles in our way. It will hinder our progress. Scripture here has a tinge of humor – just as a door turns left and right always, a sluggard too keeps turning in bed too lazy to get up. Sometimes we can be this lazy instead of being encouraged to get up and do what God wants us to do. Laziness can greatly deteriorate our effectiveness. If we are lazy, we are even lazy to make use of the resources that we have right in front of us. God has blessed us abundantly with many resources – a wealth of Godly examples and Christian teaching in many forms. But if we are lazy, we won’t take the effort to make use of these resources for our spiritual growth. Are you willing to work and take and eat for your spiritual health? As we have in abundance, we will be accountable to God for this. In Proverbs 24 we read how the field of the sluggard was left unattended and it was filled with thistles. We have to reflect on this and learn a few lessons. If we are wise, we can learn from the mistakes of other lazy people instead of falling into the mistakes ourselves. In Proverbs 20:13 we read, “Do not love sleep”. Sleep is good for us and it is truly a blessing to get a sound night’s sleep. But we shouldn’t let sleep control us that we stretch the time of rest to a form of laziness. Do you have an unnatural, ungodly love for sleep that makes you forget the responsibility that you have? Today God reminds you to work on this. In Mathew 13:24-26 Jesus talks about the parable of the man who sowed seeds, but the enemy sowed tares when he was away. We may also have begun well, but because of our laziness the enemy had the opportunity to sow tares. We know there are snipers in warfare. They wait for hours on end, patiently observing their target, waiting for them to make one mistake, in order to get that one right shot. The devil too is like a sniper lying in wait for us. So we can’t afford to be lazy and let our guard down. During a time of spiritual sleep, the devil will sow these tares. Let us seek to be diligent in this area! We know how King David was a man who was blessed with victory in all his wars. But during a season when kings should have gone for war, King David was lazy; had a slack thought and was strolling on his terrace. The devil made use of the opportunity. That was when he fell into the sin of adultery and murder. See how great a danger it is when we are lazy and don’t do our responsibilities. Seek to be diligent! Being diligent will protect us from many pitfalls.
Many Christians depend on a verse coming to their inbox or through various social media. They are content that they have received their word for the day. They rely on that for their spiritual growth. Their conscience is satisfied by reading that verse. They don’t want to take the effort to read the Bible by themselves and search the scriptures. This state can be compared to trying to live a life on pills rather than proper food and nourishment. How long can we live like that? Not very long. So how can we expect to live our Christian life by being satisfied by some verses send to us by others? We need to labor for our daily spiritual food. Paul ordered the church in Thessalonica that if one is not willing to work, then they shouldn’t eat either. See how strongly Paul takes the matter of laziness seriously. In 1 Corinthians 15:58 we read, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” See how the Holy Spirit encourages us to work hard. We can do our part in the church to encourage others; invest our time in others life and labor for the Lord.
The second area where we need to work is the tendency to be superficial. Most of us are happy if things are happy on the outside. The Bible speaks against this many times. Jesus spoke of the wise and the foolish man. Both of their houses looked the same on the outside but the foolish man hadn’t taken the effort or labored to dig underground. He was only concerned with the superficial work. Human nature is being superficial. We are satisfied if we have an image before others and tend to ignore our hidden areas. Those trees that have strong roots below the soil will not fall even in the midst of a great storm. We shouldn’t be fooled by our external testimony. In Hebrews 2:1 we read, “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.” There is a need to pay close attention to what we heard so that when the storm comes we don’t fall. In 1 Timothy 4:15, 16 we read, “Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.” Paul uses powerful words like ‘Take pain’, ‘be absorbed’, ‘pay close attention’ and ‘preserve’. A sloppy attitude will not get us anywhere. In order to have progress we need to be diligent. We need to pay close attention to ourselves and not to others. Be sensitive to every sin and keep a sensitive conscience. We all save up and are careful in investing our money. In our Christian life we tend to be lazy – let us invest time and give effort to build up a strong spiritual life. When we are young and God speaks to us, it becomes a huge investment in our life!
The third area where we need to heed to is a ‘seniority complex’. In workplaces, our promotion, increments everything works according to seniority. But it is not the same in the kingdom of God. The number of years that we are a Christian carries no meaning if there is no progress! Sometimes people who are new to the church have such a passion and zeal and they value the fellowship but others who have been hearing the word for years don’t value the church. It is foolish to think that because of your age or years spend in the church, you are more spiritual than the new comers. Many who are last will be first! In the parable of the prodigal son, the son who stayed at home couldn’t sincerely rejoice over his brother’s return because he felt his seniority wasn’t rewarded. Seniority complex can be dangerous and we can tend to be envious of people who are actually making spiritual progress. Seniority complex make us think we are indispensable or that we are entitled to service from others. But it isn’t so in the kingdom of God. In Mathew 20 Jesus speaks of the parable of the workers in the vineyard. The workers who started working in the morning were offended because they and the workers who came last got the same reward. Their seniority complex caused them to be offended. Remember the state from where God saved you – a state where nobody needed you; and then you will be saved from this seniority complex.
May God help us to strive to the best of our ability and ensure that our Christian life is not stale without renewal. Let us seek to work in the areas that God has convicted us of today.
