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Diligence — The Urgency Of Endeavor

There’s an old proverb that says, “Old tigers, sensing the end are at their most fierce.” There’s a great spiritual lesson for Christians in this proverb — that as we inch our way further into life, the experience of Christian living should make us bolder in the face of things that beset us.

The Christian life is a life-long process. Although we are raised from baptism’s watery grave to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4), we are not reborn in Christ fully knowing how this “new life” ought to be lived. Like any infant, we must first begin crawling, then take stumbling steps, and finally become adept at walking before we have the ability to run.

In theory, this means that we should improve as we go along the road of life. The longer we live in Christ, the more we should develop in Christ-likeness (cf. Romans 6:6; Gal. 2:20). This is exactly why the inspired Scriptures contain so many admonitions for us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18); to “increase in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10); to “abound in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us — see that you abound in this grace also” (2 Corinthians 8:7).

However, this type of spiritual growth doesn’t happen by accident. Brethren, we actually have to work at it! We are all fully aware that the prevailing religious philosophy of the day is that living the Christian life shouldn’t be something to which one has to apply any effort, but the Bible is clear to the contrary. The work ethic was in God’s mind when He placed Adam in the garden of Eden “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15 ESV). His mind hasn’t changed since that time (Numbers 23:19 ESV; cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:8-10).

Let’s consider this verse:

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB).

The Greek word translated “be diligent” is spoudazo, from which we get our modern English word “speed.” Literally, it means to “make haste” or “hurry up.” It also has the connotation “to apply oneself” or “to endeavor with urgency.”

It’s the same word the Hebrew writer uses to direct the Hebrew brethren: “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11). Peter again uses this word in a similar context:

“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble” (2 Peter 1:10).

And again in 2 Peter 3:14:

“Be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14).

Through these inspired men, the Holy Spirit is teaching us that we must diligently apply ourselves to the task of being a faithful Christian, if we are to be approved servants of God. That diligence — that urgency of endeavor, should permeate everything we do, and should increase in acuteness as we progress through our Christian life, even as an athlete strains even more insistently as he approaches the finish line of the race, or the end zone of the gridiron, not wanting to be denied the victory he has striven so hard to achieve.

Like the “old tigers” in the proverb quoted at the beginning of this article, we Christians should grow all the more fierce in our pursuit of righteousness as we see the clock of life ticking away. As the apostle Paul so aptly put it:

“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind” (Philippians 3:14-15).