The Same Diligence

The writer of Hebrews (Paul may well be the source) followed the leadership of the Holy Spirit in warning the Christian recipients of that letter about the danger of falling back into unfaithfulness. With every stick there is a carrot.

So we read Hebrews 6:9-10: “But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister.”

In some ways God is a demanding Father. Once He had blessed the Hebrew Christians with salvation through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, He was not willing to stand by and let them go back to their previous life of sin.  For these people this would involve going back into that mutilated form of the Law of Moses generally practiced in the Judaism of that day. For us it would not be that. Instead it would be a return to whatever we were doing and being before we became Christians. In any case, God does not want us to do that. Thus we have Hebrews, Galatians and Romans and other references to not falling back in all the letters.

Think of two other verses in Hebrews on this subject. We have Hebrews 10:23: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” We must hold on with a steady grip to our faith. Why? (I am tempted to say “Why not?”) But just a few verses later in chapter ten we read this: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (10:31). Though God is infinitely kind and the very definition of caring, He does expect us to be responsible in our faithfulness. It is foolish to neglect our duty.

Let’s return to the idea of the carrot that goes with the stick (Hebrews 6:9-10). God has not, does not and will not forget the things we do in our lives as faithful Christians. The writer cites the example of people who have ministered to the saints. It is good to remember that every congregation that received letters had among them good, hard working folks and others who were not. Sometimes there were a few who were altogether up to no good at all. Just about like it is today!

So here in Hebrews 6:11 the writer expresses the “desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end.” All of us would do well to remember that we will not make it to the goal of the soul unless we put forth some effort. The word used here is “diligence.” The Christian life is not designed to be a life of leisure. Nothing good about this life is easy!

I firmly believe that good stuff in any area of life does not just present itself out of the cool blue sky! If you have lived a little while just think about your life. We appreciate the things in this life that we work for. God made us this way. One reason for this is that we can more easily be taught that study, diligence and work are also part of spiritual growth. Growing in Christ does not just happen (see 2 Peter 1:5-8).

Now, consider Hebrews 6:12: “…do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Now, we all have our sluggish or “lazy” times. A few hours or days of sluggishness can be allowed for in our day to day lives. But we all know what happens of laziness becomes our lifestyle. The lazy man is no hero (Proverbs 6:6-11). But spiritual sluggishness leads to a much worse disaster: we lose our inheritance.

So, let’s be diligent, faithful Christians. God’s grace and mercy has made our way clear. It is up to us to follow that road of hope.

Bill Irby