Diligent Hands, Not Lucky Breaks

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Gentlemen, every day is a battle. A battle for your faith, your family, and your purpose. The men who stand strong don't prepare when the battle arrives. They prepare before it begins. Welcome to the men's morning devotional. Let's get into God's word. It's time to man up.

Christian Calatayud 0:27

Good morning and welcome back to the men's morning devotional. My name is Christian Kaladiud, and it's time for another man up moment together. Now we have incredible listeners from all over the world. We've heard that there's some in Japan, some in Turkey, and of course here in the United States as well. And this week we're going to be diving into Proverbs chapter 10. And it's going to be a special week, and we're looking forward to it. Today's devotional is called Diligent Hands, Not Lucky Breaks. Proverbs 10, 4 says, lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth. It's interesting. Solomon is very quick to the trigger here. He doesn't waste his words. He's saying that there's two categories of men. Two outcomes. Lazy hands, poverty, and diligent hands and wealth. What's interesting is he makes no mention of talent, he makes no mention of connections, he makes no mention of luck, no, none of those things. He just mentions hands and what they do with the hours they're given. And the truth is that could unsettle us today. If we're a man who's been waiting for our breakthrough instead of building towards it. You know, there's something important to note and point out about the book of Proverbs. They're not just abstract religious sayings that are thrown together on paper, they're common sense observations on how the world God made actually works. Solomon isn't being poetic here, he he's really being practical. He's saying that diligence produces, while laziness does not. And oftentimes when we read the Bible, we're expecting some spiritual mystery, and that's not this. This is not some spiritual mystery. No, it's just true. Every time, every day, in every generation. And the men before us, they took this proverb pretty seriously. And they took it and it it shaped how they viewed work itself. They didn't view honest labor as beneath a godly man. They saw idleness as a real danger to a man's soul. Because the truth is, a hand that's busy in honest work has less room for the kind of trouble that an idle hand invites. And that's what makes Proverbs really hard for us sometimes. We want the promise, the wealth, the opportunity. Without the process, without diligent hands. We want to skip from lazy to blessed without ever having passed through discipline. But Solomon won't let us skip a step. There is no shortcut sitting next to this one. There is no, or if you're just gifted enough, you can skip the diligent part. You can skip the discipline. No. The man who wins the long game isn't usually the most talented man in the room. It isn't usually the most gifted man in the room. He's the man still showing up, still working long after the talented men got bored and quit. So, gentlemen, here's our man up challenge. Let's pick one area of our life right now where we've been waiting for a breakthrough instead of building one. Today, let's get our hands a little bit dirty. Let's do the unglamorous, diligent thing in that area: the phone call, the budget, the workout, the extra hour that nobody might see. Let's not wait for just some stroke of luck. Let's build it with our hands. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the dignity that you've placed in honest work. And Lord Jesus, make our hands diligent, not lazy. Let us be faithful with the small things that you have given us today. And build in us, Lord, men who trust you enough to work hard and wait well. We love you, we praise you, and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

All right, gentlemen, you've heard God's word. Now go live it. Lead well, stand strong, honor God in everything you do. Share this devotional with another brother. Remember, every day is another opportunity to man up.