Month: January 2024

Sue’s Views

12 Steps To A Good Year

Step 2: Let Us Be Diligent

“Therefore, let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:11 NASB)

What Is Diligence?

Let’s consider for a moment what diligence is. Sometimes one way to find out the meaning of a word is to consider its opposite. One obvious opposite of diligence is laziness. The Bible doesn’t have one good word to say about laziness. It is a theme that does not receive enough attention in contemporary Christendom. Compare this to what the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 6, verses 11–12:

“We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” (NIV)

Sue’s Views

To start off the New Year ….. I want to share some thoughts from a devotional by Derek Prince called ‘12  Steps To A Good Year’. They are taken from the book of Hebrews.

Step 1. Let Us Fear

‘Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still remains and is freely offered today, let us fear, in case any one of you may seem to come short of reaching it or think he has come too late.’ Hebrews 4:1 Amp

Because of their presumption, their false security, their laziness, and because they had not availed themselves of all the privileges and blessings that they had enjoyed in a special degree, this first admonition was “let us fear.”

In what, exactly, did that generation fail? The passage makes it clear: They did not hear God’s voice. They were content to get things second-hand through Moses. They had a form of religion: the tabernacle, the Ten Commandments, the priesthood, the sacrifices, and various ceremonial laws. But in all that, they missed the one essential. They failed to hear God’s voice.

If you will make this your first step in this new year, you will be a better person by the end of it. Please accept this as the first resolution. Let’s fear that we don’t make the same mistake that Israel made. Let’s cultivate hearing the Lord’s voice.