“The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.” Proverbs 12:24
Through the years of counseling individuals and couples, my wife and I have heard these phrases many times: “I would have, but… I knew I could have… I knew I should have said something… I knew I should have done something…I knew I should have responded differently.” Many of them were diligent in their jobs, planning out their calendars, they were diligent about many facets of their lives, but they were NOT taught about being diligent to the inner voice.
Those flashes of “I knew I should have, would have, could have, …” are most likely the promptings of the Holy Spirit that we need to be diligent about and listen to them. The Holy Spirit communicates to us through our spirit, and He speaks to us through those promptings, intuitions, and leadings. The diligent believer will take note and heed those promptings and rule in life, while the lazy could be forced to endure the consequences.
There is an inner world within each of us that many just ignore simply because we have been trained over a lifetime to focus on the natural, physical world around us instead of the amazing kingdom that is within us. Jesus said, in Luke 17:21, “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” In other words, Jesus was directing our attention, not to the external world we live in, but to an inner world that lives in us!
This takes a lifetime of learning, meditating on scripture, and praying in the spirit, but following the voice of God is something Jesus talked about more than once, so it’s important! He said, “My sheep know My voice, they hear My voice, I lead them and they follow Me.” The language of the spirit is not heard with our physical ears, but it is discerned by our inner man. The more we study and meditate on scripture, the easier it will be to recognize His voice!
This is where diligence begins. It’s where the kingdom of God begins to separate us from the darkness of the world’s system and brings us to green pastures and pure waters the Bible talks about! God is real. His Word is Life and His voice leads us into the ways of Life.
With Love,
Pastor Tom