Diligence is a precious possession

The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man's precious possession. – Proverbs 12v27

There are so many things that I remember about my mom and dad. I miss them every single day. My mom especially often reminded us of many of the great old maxims of life. When I read this verse one of those came to mind. ‘If a job is worth doing it is worth doing right.’ Doing a job right means that you do it until it is completed. It means you finish the job. It means you stick with it.

In the proverbial illustration we read of a man who goes out to hunt, claims his kill, but is so lazy that he comes home and won’t prepare his dinner. That really describes a man who won’t finish a job, even if it is to his own benefit. If you can’t finish the job, you always lose out.

However, the man who is diligent has a great possession – his diligence. Diligence always pays off. Even if we don’t always achieve our pre-set goals we win because we know we did our best.

I was listening to an interview today with a fire fighter who survived the collapse of the World Trade Centre on 9/11. They had decided to retreat when they heard the collapse of the South Tower. They were on the 27^th floor, and while descending they found a woman on the 20^th floor. She could not walk and they had to decide whether it ignore her, or take her. Taking her would mean that they would be greatly slowed down. They didn’t pause. They picked her up and carried her with them. When they got to the fourth floor the tower collapsed around them. Eventually, after the dust settled the fire fighters and the woman all escaped.

Why did they do that? Why did they risk their lives? Simple, it is because they had character. As it turns out, if they had moved quicker they would probably have died because no one survived any further into the rubble.

If they had not stopped to do their job they would have wondered the rest of their lives if they could have saved the woman. They would have questioned if they had done the right thing. But if they had failed they would have died, as the fire fighter said, knowing they did there best.

Diligence is a great possession. God has plenty of reminders for us. Be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Seeing we have this ministry we will not quit. Don’t be weary in well doing.

Don’t quit. Exercise the great possession of a diligent character. Stay at it!