Diligence And Its Rewards - 2 Peter 1:5-11

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. - 2 Peter 1:5-11

    Diligence, said to be characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort. Some also refer to it as painstaking. Matthew Henry said, “Without giving all diligence, there is no gaining any ground in the work of holiness.” What Peter is suggesting to us then is that without diligence  in applying the gifts that Christ has made available to us we can never be certain of either our call or election. Living a life with Christ as our focus cannot be accomplished haphazardly. We must make our endeavor worthy of our Savior.
    Just knowing our Lord and Savior is not enough, unless you prescribe to the heresy of Antinomianism, It is all easy-believism from there on out. And we know from Christ’s words that we will not have an easy time of being Christians. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’” - Matthew 16:24-26.
    None of us can claim the Kingdom if we aren’t willing to give all diligence in following the perfect obedience of our Lord and Savior. Even then our obedience will not be perfect but our heavenly Father will see our hearts’ desires. He will see Christ’s perfect obedience within us and thereby declare us just. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” - Ephesians 2:4-5.
    May we always remember the need for diligence in our walk with Jesus and the rich reward we are called to by God’s grace and by His grace alone!