12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
In life, dreams and opportunities find full expression when matched with hard work. Wishes are lame and flimsy; they cannot walk the path of fulfilment of dreams, but hard work can. It is a common saying that if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. But wishes are not horses, are they? Any dream in your heart that doesn’t require you pulling up your sleeves, and getting your hands dirty owing to hard work, cannot see the light of day. Dreams cannot fulfill themselves; they require hard working hands to come to pass. Hard work is not a curse, neither is it hardship. Hard work is a blessing from God which helps to release your potential. The realization of your potential and the fulfilment of your destiny are all at the mercy of hard work, without which they cannot come to pass. The Word declares in the opening verse that the sluggard, the lazy person, desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. There are too many lazy bones in the church with false claims that they depend on the grace of God, taking cover under “grace”. Grace is the reason we ought to be hard working; it is not a justification for laziness. The apostle Paul laboured with the grace of God which was given to him. He laboured more than all the apostles put together – 1 Corinthians 15:10.
Work is one of the blessings God conferred on mankind in order that they may make the most of their giftings, talents, resources and harness their potentials towards the fulfilment of God’s purpose for man. Work is God’s way of replenishing the earth, which is one of the pillars of the blessing conferred on mankind by God. Genesis 1:28 tells us that God blessed man to be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over all the earth. In Genesis 2, God planted a garden east of Eden and placed the man that He had formed in it, to keep and tend it. That’s some work right there, isn’t it? So, God is not against work. Philippians 2:12-13 says “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God that works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” We are meant to work out what God has worked in us. That’s how to be productive with the opportunities that come your way.
My Solid Front (Confession): I declare that I give my heart and my hands to working out the opportunities the Lord has brought my way. I declare that I am not lazy but diligent to give outward expression to all that God has put within me. Therefore, I always produce worthy results. Amen.
Further Meditation: 2 Peter 1:5-10, Genesis 1:1-31.