Earnestness

The significance of earnestness

In repentance

Joel 2:12 KJV 1900

Therefore also now, saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

See also 1 Sa 7:2–3; Re 3:19

In seeking God

Jeremiah 29:13 KJV 1900

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

See also Ps 119:2; Heb 11:6

In salvation

Luke 13:24 KJV 1900

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

See also Mt 7:24–27; Heb 2:3; Heb 6:11; Jas 1:22; Jas 2:14

In love for God

Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV 1900

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

See also Mt 22:37

In prayer

2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV 1900

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

See also Is 62:6–7; Mt 6:5–6

In trusting God

Proverbs 3:5 KJV 1900

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding.

See also Is 26:3–4

In spiritual progress

Philippians 2:12–13 KJV 1900

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. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

See also 1 Co 9:24; Heb 12:1; 2 Pe 1:5–11

In serving God

Matthew 6:24 KJV 1900

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

See also Dt 18:6–7; Lk 9:57–62; 1 Co 12:31; 1 Co 14:1; 2 Ti 2:15

Examples of earnestness

In seeking God

Psalm 63:1 KJV 1900

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: My soul thirsteth for thee, My flesh longeth for thee In a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

See also 2 Ch 15:15; Ho 5:15

In prayer

Acts 12:5 KJV 1900

Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

See also 1 Th 3:10; Jas 5:17–18

In evangelism

1 Corinthians 9:19–22 KJV 1900

For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

See also 1 Th 2:2–9

In Christian living

Philippians 3:13–14 KJV 1900

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

See also 1 Co 9:25–27; 2 Co 8:7–8

Regarding personal needs

Mt 9:18; Lk 7:4

Jesus Christ’s own earnestness

Matthew 26:39 KJV 1900

And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

See also Jn 2:17; Jn 4:34

Earnest concern for the people of God

For Israel

Lk 19:41; Ro 9:1–3

See also Ne 1:2–4; Is 22:4; Is 62:1; Je 4:19–21; Je 8:21; Je 9:1; Je 13:17; La 3:48; Mic 1:8–9; Mt 23:37; Ro 10:1

For the church

2 Corinthians 11:28–29 KJV 1900

Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?

See also Ac 20:31; Ro 1:11; 2 Co 2:4; 2 Co 11:2–3; Ga 4:19–20; Col 1:24; Col 1:28–29; Col 2:1; 1 Th 2:17

Earnestness may be misdirected

Romans 11:7 KJV 1900

What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded

See also Ac 26:7