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2001-06-25 - Diligence
Part 7
Colossians 3:9,10 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.
This will be the last in the series on diligence. However, we have not yet exhausted the theme. Another reason why we need diligence is because of all we lost when our Federal Representative Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. We need to use diligence in all our Christian duties because of the greatness of the impact of the fall of man upon ourselves. We cannot regain what we had in the pure image of God by hearing 10,000 sermons or taking communion every day. The only way that the image of God can be renewed is if Christ renews us in the gospel. But nevertheless, we still need to exercise diligence in our Christian walk simply because of how great the damage of the fall is on our lives.
Lastly, we need to exercise diligence because of how little diligence we have had in the past. It is easy to look back and see the many wasted moments or opportunities that we have had in our lives. Diligence in our lives is the only way to begin to counter balance what we have wasted. Seneca was wise when he said, "That a great part of mans life doth pass away in doing evil, the greatest part in doing nothing, the whole of a mans life in doing other things then he should do." We know that this is at least somewhat true with us and if we are honest we might even admit how true it really is with us.
We have spent less time thinking of heavenly things than we know we should have. We have been careless in our Bible study and in our attention to the preaching of God's word. We have been at prayer much less that we have needed to be. Most of us have probably had many days when we never even thought once about God or how gracious His mercy is in Christ. So we need diligence because the world is distracting and it calls us away from the very things that are needful for us to be engaged in. Diligence in our Christian walk is the discipline to seek those things that are an advantage to us. Diligence is that lost duty with which it is next to impossible to fulfill our other Christian duties without.
Soli Deo Gloria,
T-
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