Be diligent

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, - 2 Peter 3.14-15

Diligence. The longer I live and the longer I serve the more I learn that diligence is a key word in service. Very seldom is there overnight success in God’s work. The vast majority off God’s work is done through perseverance, hard work, and diligence. 

Fortunately Peter gave us not only one example of diligence, but two. 

First to remember the Lord and His long-suffering. The passage above puts it pretty simple. ‘The long-suffering of the Lord is salvation.’ It couldn’t be any clearer than that. When we get down or discouraged or defeated we need to remember all the Jesus went through for us. He was diligent, to use Peter’s words here, all he way to the point of the cross. Anyone would have thought that He has wasted His time when He went to the cross, but His diligence led Him there and beyond to His resurrection. Jesus’ diligence is our salvation.  

Secondly we have the example of Paul. It is easy sometimes to think that Paul was the great super missionary who went out and conquered the known world for Christ. And He did. But it was not without troubles and it was not without him staying diligent in those troubles. As he wrote, ‘

Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.’

Maybe my trials are not so bad. Maybe a call to diligence is not quit so absurd. 

Lord, keep me diligent.