Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jeremiah 46-48.
“Cursed be the one who does the Lord’s work negligently, and cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood” (Jeremiah 48:10).
Much of the book of Jeremiah focuses on the sins of the people of Judah and their coming judgment at the hands of the Babylonians. Yet Jeremiah indicated that God was going to use the great Babylonian army to punish more than just the inhabitants of Judah. The Babylonians would devastate other nations as well. As these prophecies indicate, this was also the work of God. The verse above can be found in the prophecy against Moab.
Those doing the Lord’s work in this context were the Babylonian soldiers. God was sending them to punish the Moabites. In executing this punishment, the soldiers were not to be negligent of their task, or else God would curse them.
This principle is found throughout Scripture – we must do the Lord’s work diligently, not negligently. The wise man said, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). This certainly includes our efforts to serve the Lord. Notice a few passages:
- Be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
- “Be diligent to present yourselves approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
- “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).
- “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherited the promises” (Hebrews 6:11-12).
- “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence… knowledge… self-control… perseverance… godliness…brotherly kindness… love… Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble” (2 Peter 1:5-10).
- “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14).
If we wish to please God, we cannot do His will negligently. We must serve Him diligently.
Tomorrow’s reading: Jeremiah 49-50
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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