Diligence

Welcome 2016. I'm  not really sure about you, not fear, not hesitancy, I'm just not really sure what lies within your borders. I'm not really into resolutions either. Maybe it's my rebellious side that tries not to do what everyone else is doing, maybe it's just my thought that if you want to make a change, you should start now, not wait for the new year, and you should be diligent to do so, not just on the first of January.

A whole year has gone by, as my many mistakes are about to tell me each time I try to write the date over the next week. It is a good time to reflect. See where you've come, what's transpired, where you're going. Some years have been unmistakable years of change. Some years have gone on much like the rest. And this year, I'm trying to remember what all has happened. It has been a year of moving on. Physically, emotionally. A lot has taken place. I've finished things, started things, said goodbye to friends, welcomed new family, and relinquished my hold on other things.

Though, a new year brings me not so much trying to define last year, but to put a word to next year. As I look back over a year of life, it gives a good chance to see maybe the things, the character, the perspective, the direction that needs a bit of shifting. 

My word for this next year is diligence. If you ask my best friends they could tell you that I'm really not always that diligent. Granted, I could be known for getting things done or being dependable. But that doesn't mean I'm diligent. I procrastinate, put things off, or am not as faithful as I would love to be. And at first this sounds like it would mostly affect my life, maybe occasionally be an inconvenience to those close to me, but it can be an issue of the heart. And that needs to change. I have been thinking about obedience; delayed obedience is disobedience. You're waiting until the convenient time for you, and then you'll do it, and sometimes what's convenient doesn't come. True obedience is doing it now, and doing it quickly, and even better, doing it with the right attitude. God tells us that he takes greater pleasure in obedience than other sacrifices we could make, but to be really obedient, I need to be diligent. I need to be diligent with my life, with my days, and I'll try to start with this year. When things need to be done, I want to do it now. There's no time like the present, right? And this could pertain to my daily tasks, my home, my heart, my relationships, friendships, commitments, responsibilities, my walk with Jesus. Being diligent just makes life so much easier too! If you do it now, those things won't weigh on you later, or clutter up everything else. Or how about the things that Jesus asks of me? The things that he says, come and do this thing with Me, and if the impact would be better now than later, I want to follow His heart. I don't want to wait for the "right time", because chances are, it's now. Tied to diligence, if looking at the actual definition of it, implies a careful work, a persistent work, doing an efficient job. So not only being faithful to do what's placed in front of you, but doing it well. Or how about not seeing a job done, until it is well done?

I didn't realize how much God talks about diligence until, well, today. Or even how good diligence sounds, and how unpleasant the opposite of being diligent sounds. Diligent, earnest, steadfast, vigilant, making every effort...or lazy, slothful, sluggish, hasty, slacking, negligent. Now, I don't want to be the latter list of words, but I have spent far too many days being just that recently. I don't want to be lazy with the days God has given me, I want to be found faithful with what my Creator gives. Do we realize the importance of diligence? Do we realize it affects us, affects our relationship with God, and can also affect our example for Christ? We should be a man/woman of our word. If we can't be responsible and able to be relied on, what good is our word? And when we are a people who are supposed to speak truth, speak into others' lives, that is significant.

"The precious possession of a man is his diligence." 

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might" ~Ecclesiastes 9:10

"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." ~Heb. 11:6

May I be found diligent with my days, with my year, with my life.

-hannaH