Christmas #4: He is Diligence and the supplier of Energy

He is Diligence

dil·i·gence
ˈdiləjəns/

noun
1. careful and persistent work or effort.




I'm trying to stick to using only one word in these titles. For this one, I would prefer to say "He is Diligence, Energy, Endurance, and Hard Work."

[there used to be a pretty little picture here, but it's gone now]

This characteristic of Jesus is something new to me that hit me a few weeks ago.  It's something I need to be reminded of daily.  Last month as my deadlines for graduate school applications were coming up quickly, I became increasingly lethargic and deprived of motivation and inspiration.  It had not occurred to me that Jesus is just as much the cure for lethargy and laziness as He is for obvious sins like pride, hate, or lust.  When we put on Christ, we get all sorts of bonuses -- not just the desire to good, but the inspiration needed to endure the day-to-day grind or whatever else is consuming our limited supply of human energy!  HE is our supply of energy, motivation, and inspiration to do work.  

And we see this characteristic in the human Jesus. I don't believe that Jesus spent 20+ years of His pre-ministry adult life merely studying or meditating or sitting around.  He was a human, and He had parents and siblings to take care of.  He most likely took up the trade of His earthly dad and was a carpenter.  He got splinters; He probably made mistakes; He spent hours and hours sweating and diligently working with His hands.

But we don't even have to reach into that part of His story to get a glimpse of His endurance, diligence, and hard work.  I've no doubt that His ministry was exhausting.  He was around people all the time, albeit frequently retreating to spend time alone with His Father (Luke 5:15).  He was the center of attention for hours/days/weeks/months at a time.  I can't imagine it.  But He was so connected with the Father -- speaking only what the Father was speaking, doing as the Father was doing (John 5:19, 12:49) -- that He wasn't just operating merely from an independent human self.  In the same way that Christ had the Father, we have Christ.  We speak what He IS SPEAKING and do what He IS DOING (present tense, not past nor conditional tense).

And for this life on Earth that we now live in Him, Christ gives supernatural energy.  He doesn't just want us to come to Him for our "spiritual problems;"  life transformation means... LIFE transformation!  He enjoys when we have fun, He suffers with us when we suffer, and He gives us what we need to WORK!  The most important part of this entire blog series is this: we no longer live from ourselves, but by the indwelling life of Jesus Christ in us.

I'm ever thankful to Him for showing me this facet of who He is, because I no longer have to live life thinking "I'm just a naturally lazy person, and there's nothing I can do about that."

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me