The Precious Possession of Diligence - Proverbs 12:27

A lazy man does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a man is diligence.
Proverbs 12:27


One of the most precious things you can ever develop in your life is diligence. I remember reading a godly man a long time ago who said, "Many things go to the diligent man simply because he is dilgent about the things he does." There are large numbers of people who are very gifted, but who lack diligence. They will begin the race in the lead - but soon will be eclipsed by the less gifted who are simply more diligent about what they do in life.

Here we are introduced to a lazy man. He is so lazy that even though he has either caught or killed prey that can serve as food, he refuses to roast it. As a result his meat will soon become rotten and useless. He is the picture of someone who has an ability (evidently here it is either hunting or trapping) but who will not do the work that is necessary to take his ability and make it something truly useful to others. Often we see that the more gifted someone is, the less they work hard to hone their gifts to serve others. In the end, their gift is used primarily only to serve themselves and their selfish appetites. Sadly fare too many gifted individuals have written over their lives the epitaph that they were gifted - but lacked the diligence and hard work to make their gift all it could be.

The wise man knows that diligence is indeed a precious possession. The idea presented by a precious possession is that first it is rare and very valuable. Due to the fact that we are fallen, we are not prone to diligence on our own. Therefore it is either developed due to the influence of people who will help us be faithful and hard-working - or - it will be granted to us as God develops our character through the things He Himself teaches us. The word possession has the idea of wealth that is sufficient for our needs. It is enough for us. Diligence in that way is not the drive that some people have for riches that becomes an all-consuming passion that drives out all other things in their thinking. They eventually are destroyed - not by diligence - but by an all-consuming desire for more. Indeed their hard work is based more out of greed than wisdom. For this reason - the ability to be diligent means working hard, being faithful to tasks to see them done and done well - but not the foolishness of thinking that we are what we make or accomplish.

If you have been blessed by having biblical diligence - you are rich! Your wealth will be seen in ways that go far beyond your bank account. Your wealth will be seen in the way that you work - the way that your work blesses others - and the way that even in hard, diligent work, you continue to glorify God.