Be Diligent

Lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch,but the diligent make use of everything they find.

Proverbs 12:27

A lazy life is a wasteful life. Our economy is in crisis. It is time for all of us to wake up and be serious about being diligent in the everyday details of life. For godly women this is called discipline and stewardship. Even little changes can add up. It can be fun. Get your kids involved. They can clip coupons and help compare prices online. I googled the words frugal tips and found lots of websites with good ideas. As a young pastor’s wife I learned to make a dollar stretch a mile. Here are some habits I have used for years.

• Plan meals according to what is on sale that week at the grocery store.
• When items you use a lot are on sale, stock up; buy two.
• Buy good coffee and make it at home. One bag of coffee lasts weeks and costs about the same as just three cups at Starbucks.
• Take a few snacks and water bottles in the car to avoid buying expensive snacks while you’re out doing errands.
• Get out your Crock-Pot again. Throwing in a few potatoes and some chicken in the morning takes five minutes, and it is wonderful to come home to a hot meal.
• Make homemade iced tea instead of buying soda.
• A pot of homemade chicken soup, salad, and cornbread for eight costs less than dinner for two at a restaurant.

Benjamin Franklin advised, “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Will you answer the call to be a woman of diligence? Will you then apply that diligence to your prayer life? Corrie ten Boom said, “Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.” So is a woman. James 5:16 tells us, “Tremendous power is made available through a good [woman’s] earnest prayer” (THE MESSAGE). We are not to take this great privilege and responsibility lightly. We’re to be warriors, fighting with our spiritual weapon, prayer! J. Sidlow Baxter said, “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.”

One Year Bible Reading

Joshua 3:1–4:24; Luke 14:7-35; Psalm 80:1-19; Proverbs 12:27-28