That was awesome

That was awesome

Bible:Proverbs 12:12,24-28

Reading

Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labour (V.24).

It was her first cross-country school race, but she didn’t want to run. She’d been practising for the event for weeks, but she was afraid of running badly. Still, she started the race with everyone else. Later, one by one the other runners all crossed the finish line—everyone except the reluctant runner. Finally, her mum, who was watching for her daughter to finish, saw a lone figure in the distance. Her mum stood by the finish line, hoping to find some encouraging words to say. Instead, when the young runner saw her mum, she shouted, “That was awesome!” What can be awesome about finishing last? Finishing! The girl had tried something difficult and finished it! In the same way, the Bible says keeping going with things that are hard is an important skill for us to
learn. We often like to take the easy way—but things like training for races show that hard work and effort really do pay off. Proverbs 12:24 says, “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labour.” And later we read, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty” (PROVERBS 14:23). These wise principles—not promises—can help us live well for God, and not give up on the hard roads He will sometimes ask us to walk.God’s plan for us includes work and difficult things. They are unavoidable in this world. Instead of trying to avoid them, let’s make every effort to do the things God gives us “with all [our] heart” (COLOSSIANS 3:23). And then we can leave the results to Him.

WE WON’T SERVE GOD WELL IF WE’RE LAZY.

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries