Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15
Alright, here we go!
Let's start today by looking at the word diligent, according to Merriam Webster: -
characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort
I like that "steady, earnest, and energetic effort" because that shows that whosoever is diligent, they are forever moving towards their target, never once slowing down or veering off course.
They are always making progress towards their goals...
What a way to live, huh?
The Diligence of a Man
To be diligent then, surely implies that you are keeping your goals in sight at all times, which we've covered in an earlier devotional in this series. You are not letting go of them, instead using them as an excuse to extend, over-extend and hopefully one day actually achieve your goals.
But how does this fit into the concept of being "approved unto God", what does it mean to get His approval?
The answer is not some long-winded essay, the kind of which I am so easily fond of writing on here. I'm going to try and keep a tighter control on the length of these devotionals because they're meant to be a snapshot, not an essay.
The answer is simply... obedience.
Why obedience? Simple. God cannot use us as effectively if we are being wilfully disobedient and therefore you may just find circumstances in your life that appear to resemble Jonah's: -
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because their wickedness has confronted Me.” However, Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. Jonah 1:1-3 HCSB (emphasis added)
We all know what happens next, but just in case you didn't, God's plan was for him to go to Nineveh on the eastern bank of the River Tigris in what's now basically modern day Iraq. His mission? To warn the people to turn aside from their evil and selfish ways.
But Jonah being "god" in this situation, or at the very least thinking that he could be "god", he decided that command did not need to be followed.
In disobeying he simply presented God with an opportunity to prove just how "God" He is, by allowing a circumstance to befall him that would cause a dramatic change of heart.
Long story short, in the belly of the whale, the word of the Lord came ot Jonah a second time...
I like that!
"The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time" - in other words, God was offering an olive branch that basically said "look, I know you've screwed up by making a poor choice and it's landed you in the belly of the fish, but here's another chance".
The God of Second Chances
There are things that I struggle with at times and I am just ever so grateful that God buys into second, third & fourth chances etc. because without that fact I would be lost.
He proves that no matter how lost you get, God can always, always find you!
He's like the Shepherd that will go looking for that one lost sheep if it wanders off: -
What man among you, who has 100 sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it? When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ Luke 15:4 HCSB (emphasis added)
There's clearly a lot more here than can be brought out in one week, so next week's episode will follow on directly from this and look further into what it means to be a workman approved unto God.
Until then...
Peace off!
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