April 5                                           Deut 13 - 16

CLIMBING UP

MEMORISE: ‘Seest thou a man deligent in his business? he shall stand before Kings; he shall not stand before mean men.’ (Prov. 22:29)
READ: 1 Samuel 17: 31-37

From our reading, David was unknown before he signed in for the army, yet within a little space of time, he was standing before King Saul. This shows us that he was diligent. The Scriptures say the hand of the diligent shall bear rule. If you are diligent, before long you will be put on top by your boss or by fellow peers.

‘Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men’ (Prov. 22: 29).

To be above and not beneath takes diligence. There are some who cannot exceed five minutes of prayer, yet they want miracles. Some cannot fast for one day. By the time it is 12 noon or 1pm they become agitated and soon load their stomachs with food. They cannot stand their stomachs grumbling. Such people will have to discipline themselves if they want to reach the top. Some students do not take pains to study thoroughly. Once they have read through the work once, they claim to know it; hence they keep failing. Some, having failed once or twice, give up, saying perhaps God did not want them to pass after all. That is the excuse of the slothful. God is a God of success and if you are truly a child of his, then you will be successful.

God has no blessing for the lazy. Some people venture into ministry or running a church because they could not make it in the secular world. If you failed as a businessman or carpenter, you are not likely to succeed as a pastor. It is more complex to manage human beings than to work with naira and kobo.

Having reached the top, you also need diligence. In fact, you need to work twice as hard to stay on top. If you do not keep moving, soon those behind you will catch up an overtake you. To make it to heaven, you need to be diligent, according to 2 Peter 3:13-14. You have to work out your salvation with fear and trembling after you are saved. God has promised us a new heaven and a new earth and that we shall reign with him, but only the diligent will be found in him, in peace, without spot or blemish. Are you one of them?

ACTION POINT
Look at the lives of Daniel and Joseph.
List ten attributes that led them to the top and adopt those.