DILIGENT

1 Timothy 4: 14-16—Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The Kahiltna glacier feeds the broad Kahiltna River that in turn is joined by the clear running water of Peter’s Creek. Where the fast moving milky river and the rippling creek meet is a place where thousands of Silver Salmon leave their river highway from the Pacific Ocean to return home and spawn. On the northwest side of the watery marriage high above in a birch tree is an eagle’ nest. Eaglet’s cries pierce the valley as they screech for food.

Atop nearby trees majestic bald eagles survey the land and water. With a graceful swoop the mother drops below to sink her talons in an unsuspecting salmon. With powerful flaps she ascends to her nest and attends her brood. It is a grandiose site in the great frontier of Alaska. One cannot help but be impressed by the diligence devoted eagles give in raising their young. Seagulls whose flight patterns run too close to the nest risk attack. No intruder goes unnoticed by the awe-inspiring Haliaeetus leucocephalus.

The dictionary defines diligence as "painstaking effort". It costs something to be diligent. How closely do you watch your life and what you believe? Just as eagles persevere in feeding and caring for themselves and their young, so we ought to be steadfast in nourishing and protecting our walk

with God. We hear little of diligence in a pleasure-oriented society because lust holds higher value than love. Yet, the pathway to God was never meant to veer into rabbit trails of whim and compromise or fall into disrepair by neglect and irresponsibility. Be diligent! Listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit and closely guard what He says. He will guide us to the One Who above all is ever diligent.

Inspiration

If God is diligent, surely we ought to be diligent in doing our duty to Him. Think how patient and how diligent God has been with us!—Oswald Chambers in Not Knowing Where