Day 252 – Diligence

Proverbs 27:23 Be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to your herds; 24 for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. 25 When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, 26 the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field; 27 you will have enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household, and the nourishment of your maidservants.

• God’s names:
• YAHWEH – Self-existent, Eternal
• Yeshuwa/Iesous – Jesus
• Christos – Anointed One, Messiah
• Elohiym – Supreme God
• Hagios Pneuma – Sacred, Holy, Violent Wind, Breath, Spirit
• Kurios – Supreme Authority
• Theos – Supreme Divinity

• God’s character:
• Provider

From the moment you’re born, you have a desire to work to support yourself. You go to school to learn a trade and apply for the work you want. Then you work diligently to provide not only for yourself but also for your family and their needs.

Solomon spoke about flocks and herds because that’s what the Israelites did — they kept their flocks to feed and clothe their families. He told the people if they weren’t diligent with their work, they wouldn’t have what they needed. Wealth didn’t last forever; they would come on lean times. In everything they did, they needed to look to YAHWEH their provider because He would provide them with everything they needed for their daily living.

They needed to be diligent, not slothful or lazy in everything they did. Slothfulness led to poverty.

Proverbs 10:4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

Proverbs 12:24 The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor.

There are Christians who believe Yeshuwa will provide everything they need without working for it. He taught that Elohiym takes care of His people, but He didn’t teach them to be lazy. When He spoke His parables to the people, it was in a way the people understood because they worked with their hands to provide everything they needed. He wasn’t teaching lazy people, but diligent people who knew how to provide for their families.

In that regard, when He told the people not to worry about what they would eat or drink, it wasn’t because they were too lazy to work, but because they worried about how to provide for their households. He told them Elohiym would provide everything they needed because they were diligent in doing the work.

Matthew 6:25 “Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? (NKJV)

Yeshuwa told the people not to worry about their life. When they were diligent in taking care of their families, Elohiym would provide everything they needed.

He showed them examples in the birds of the air and in the flowers. It doesn’t look like either work, but birds build nests and provide for their babies once they hatch. They are always working. They have no worries. The grass of the field, flowers, and trees look like they aren’t doing anything, but they depend on the nourishment they get from the earth to grow and produce.

Everything in nature works to produce a harvest. You can’t always see it until the day you realize you need to harvest the crops you planted. They were working. They didn’t worry if there would be rain or drought. They did what they were designed to do.

So too, you were designed to work. As Christians you have a place in the Body of Christos. Yeshuwa gave you a purpose in the work you do. There are positions in leadership and laborers for you, and you must be diligent to do the work Yeshuwa provided for you for His glory. When you do, He will bless you in everything you do.

Romans 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christos, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. 9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Pneuma of Theos calls Iesous accursed, and no one can say that Iesous is Kurios except by the Hagios Pneuma. 4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Pneuma. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Kurios. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same Theos who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Pneuma is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Pneuma, to another the word of knowledge through the same Pneuma, 9 to another faith by the same Pneuma, to another gifts of healings by the same Pneuma, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Pneuma works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. 12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christos.

You need to be diligent in the calling Yeshuwa gave you, no matter what the calling He gave you. Do not be envious of another’s position. Not everybody can be in leadership, some need to work in the trenches. Without those in the trenches, the leadership would have nothing to do. Every job is important. Be diligent to do your job to the best of your ability.

Yeshuwa will provide everything you need to do the work He called you to do for Him.

Let’s pray: Father, help me to do Your work with diligence, not with grumbling or complaining, giving You all the glory for the work. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Copyright © 28 September 2026 by Valerie Routhieaux

May God bless the work of your hands as you bless others.