DILIGENCE
The courage to focus on what needs to be done, and to do your best to complete it.
Shovel It In!
A shovel is ready to work as soon as you are. It is just as willing to dig a hole as it is to fill one. And it doesn’t complain that the task is too boring or stupid, nor does its performance lessen because it’s almost nearly lunchtime. It doesn’t get distracted by the kind of material it has to move – be it dirt, manure, or pig slop. A shovel’s whole purpose is to do its best to carry the load it is asked to bear.
DILIGENCE’S MOTTO:
“Do Your Best!”
Horse: Equus caballus
The horse has been a “beast of burden” for more than 4,000 years. This strong animal has been a work-helper to man for a very long time. Whether racing, riding or pulling a plow, the horse has diligently produced the power behind much of mankind’s work.
The phrase workhorse originated as the title of a horse that was chiefly used for labor, as opposed to riding or racing, however, it also means something that is useful, durable, or dependable.
“Horses raise what the farmer eats and eats what the farmer raises. You can’t plow the ground and get gasoline.” -Will Rogers
What does the Bible say about Diligence?
“Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread…” Proverbs 12:11; 28:19
“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.” Proverbs 13:4
“In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.” Proverbs 14:23
“She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.” Proverbs 31:13
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” Ecclesiastes 9:10
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men…” Colossians 3:23
“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.” James 1:22