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                                  Diligence involves a sense of urgency (Part 4)

“Without a sense of urgency, desires loses its value.” – Jim Rohn

 “Only those who dream with a sense of urgency get to wake up from their dreams.” – Edmon Mbaika

 “Dream audaciously. Have the courage to fail forward. Act with urgency.” – Phil Knight

 Diligence (Greek: spoud) is a virtue that refers to the ability to think and act with a sense of urgency and zeal. The Greek term literally means "hurry" or "eagerness," and Paul specifically adds that, along with faith, wisdom, and love, Christians should excel at diligence (2 Cor. 8:7). Many people are in hell today because they approached life with a sense of sluggishness, believing that there was still time to spend. They didn't feel a sense of urgency regarding Kingdom business, and it wasn't given top priority since they were preoccupied with other things. They are unaware that "the King's business required haste" (1 Sam. 21:8). Life must be approached with a sense of urgency, as we are running out of time and the King's business is on the line. Never fool yourself into thinking you have lots of time; instead, remember David's cry, "I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments" (Psa. 119:60). You must take action right now to come closer to your goal. Create a sense of urgency in your life, according to H. Jackson Brown Jr.

“Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices” (SoS 8:14). Do not be like the Egyptians who only saw the urgency of their situation when all their firstborn were slayed and there was a great cry in Egypt. There was no house where there was not one dead (Exo. 12:30-31).

“And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste, for they said, we be all dead men” (Exo. 12:33).

Learn to live your Christian life on your toes. Edmon Mbaika said it well that, “Where there is no sense of urgency, there is usually a strong habit of procrastination.” Be urgent about your assignments and never give room to procrastination or the thinking that you still have plenty of time to make it. Les Brown painted it well when he said, “We have to live life with a sense of urgency so not a minute is wasted.” And John Kotter concurred when he opined that without a sense of urgency people won’t make needed sacrifices. Instead, they cling to the status quo and resist.

 

Consider Simon Peter and Andrew his brother, when Jesus met them and said unto them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” There was a divine witness in their hearts about the urgency of this commission. The Bible says, “They straightaway left their nets and followed Him (Matt. 4:19-20). They did not ask questions, but immediately dropped their nets and followed the Master. They sensed or perceived or received by revelation the urgency of the assignment.

In the same manner, when Jesus saw James and John the sons of Zebedee in a ship with their Father, mending their nets, he called them. “And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed Him” (Matt. 4:22). The call was urgent and they responded with a sense of profound urgency. They abandoned their boats and even their father and followed Jesus. When a deep realization of a sense of urgency hits us, we will handle our assignments with promptness and serious dispatch. The Bible tells us of another who in response to the same charge Jesus gave the fellows above said, “Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.” The Message Bible renders his response this way, “Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral.”

Jesus responded and said, “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent. Announce God’s Kingdom!” (Lk. 9:60 MSB). Truly life is urgent. The matters of life are critical, do not postpone them. Act now!

Another fellow volunteered himself but, he said, “Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.”

Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day” (Lk. 9:62 MSB).

Your strength is your sense of urgency. When you recognize that everything you do is urgent, you won't have any time for relaxing, waiting, hoping, or even making excuses. Consider your vital activities to be urgent necessities, and make every effort to achieve your major life objective with a sense of urgency. Don't make the mistake of assuming that things can wait. You only have time to spare when you are dead.

When you understand that your time on this planet is short, you will approach your tasks with a greater feeling of urgency. You generate urgency, not it happens to you. That implies you must commit to create urgency and hold yourself responsible for it. Let us elevate our standards from where we are to where we want to be, and work toward that goal while keeping in mind that time is limited.

We will do much more and be ultra-productive if we make this fundamental mental shift and approach life with a sense of urgency. Do you have any pending assignments? Is there a more powerful exhortation to action than "Seize the moment"? There will be no looking backwards or procrastination. First and foremost, everything must be evaluated. Remember, your business is your life, and life is urgent. With a sense of urgency, proclaim God's kingdom.