Set Six Meeting 5 –
Diligence
Stories and Illustrations:
“Little Corners”
from The
Pansy found here:
http://library.timelesstruths.org/texts/Stories_Worth_Rereading/Little_Corners/
Georgia
Willis, who helped in the kitchen, was rubbing the knives. Somebody had been
careless and let one get rusty, but Georgia rubbed with all her might, rubbed,
and sang softly a little song:
“In this world
of darkness, we must shine, You in your small corner, and I in mine.”*
“Why do you
rub at the knives forever?” asked Mary. Mary was the cook.
“Because
they are in my corner,” Georgia said, brightly. “ ‘You in your small corner,’
you know, ‘and I in mine.’ I will do the best I can; that is all I can do.”
“I would not
waste my strength,” said Mary. “I know that no one will notice.”
“Jesus
will,” said Georgia; and then she sang again—
“You in your
small corner, and I in mine.”
“Cooking the
dinner is in my corner, I suppose,” said Mary to herself. “If that child must
do what she can, I suppose I must. If Jesus knows about knives, it is likely
that he does about dinners.” And she took particular pains.
“Mary, the
dinner was very nicely cooked today,” Miss Emma said.
“That is all
due to Georgia,” said Mary, with a pleased face. Then she told about the
knives.
Miss Emma
was ironing ruffles; she was tired and warm. “Helen will not care whether they
are fluted or not,” she said. “I will hurry them over.” But after she heard
about the knives, she did her best.
“How
beautifully my dress is done!” Helen said. Emma, laughing, answered, “That is
owing to Georgia.” Then she told about the knives.
“No,” said
Helen to her friend who urged, “I really cannot go this evening. I am going to
prayer meeting; my ‘corner’ is there.”
“Your
‘corner’! What do you mean?”
Then Helen
told about the knives.
“Well,” the
friend said, “if you will not go with me, perhaps I will with you,” and they
went to the prayer meeting.
“You helped
us ever so much with the singing this evening,” their pastor said to them as
they were going home. “I was afraid you would not be here.”
“It was
owing to our Georgia,” said Helen. “She seemed to think she must do what she
could, if it were only to clean the knives.” Then she told him the story.
“I believe I
will go in here again,” said the minister, stopping before a poor little house.
“I said yesterday there was no use; but I must do what I can.”
In the house
a sick man was lying. Again and again the minister had called, but the invalid
would not listen to him. Tonight the minister said, “I have come to tell you a
little story.” Then he told him about Georgia Willis, about her knives and her
little corner, and her “doing what she could.” The sick man wiped the tears
from his eyes, and said, “I will find my corner, too. I will try to shine for
Jesus.” And the sick man was Georgia’s father.
Jesus,
looking down at her that day, said, “She hath done what she could,” and gave
the blessing.
“I believe I
will not go for a walk,” said Helen, hesitatingly. “I will finish that dress of
mother’s; I suppose I can if I think so.”
“Why, child,
are you here sewing?” her mother said. “I thought you had gone for a walk.”
“No, mother;
this dress seemed to be in my ‘corner,’ so I thought I would finish it.”
“In your
‘corner’!” her mother repeated in surprise, and then Helen told about the knives.
The doorbell rang, and the mother went thoughtfully to receive her pastor. “I
suppose I could give more,” she said to herself, as she slowly took out the ten
dollars that she had laid aside for missions. “If that poor child in the
kitchen is trying to do what she can, I wonder if I am. I will make it
twenty-five dollars.”
And I seemed
to hear Georgia’s guardian angel say to another angel, “Georgia Willis gave
twenty-five dollars to our dear people in India today.”
“Twenty-five
dollars!” said the other angel. “Why, I thought she was poor?”
“Oh, well,
she thinks she is, but her Father in heaven is not, you know! She did what she
could, and He did the rest.”
But Georgia
knew nothing about all this, and the next morning she brightened her knives and
sang cheerily:
“In this
world of darkness, we must shine,
You in your
small corner, and I in mine.”
Share
personal testimonies about diligence…what was the benefit? About slothfulness…what was the consequence?
Sword Drill
Prov.
4:23 Prov. 10:5 Prov. 12:24 Prov. 15:19 Prov. 18:9 Prov. 20:4 Prov. 24: 30 – 34 Prov. 26: 13 – 16 Romans 12:11 Colossians 3:23 Hebrews 6:11 Hebrews 12: 1 -2
Main Concepts to Emphazise
It is
important for us to learn diligence now as we are preparing to be wives and
mothers in the future.
Diligence is
putting our whole heart into each task, knowing that we are doing it as unto
the Lord.
Scripture
warns us of the dangers of slothfulness and laziness. A little bit of slothfulness leads to more
and more slothfulness. Without us even
realizing what is happening, precious time is being lost forever.
Time is one
of the most valuable resources that God has given us. We will never be able to get it back. Choose to use the years of your youth wisely.
The world’s
attitude is that we should do only what we have to do to get by. But diligence is being willing to go the
extra mile, giving above and beyond what is required of us.
Satan will
do anything he can to keep us from doing the work God has given us to do. Discuss some of the specific priorities the
Lord has given and some of the ways the enemy seeks to distract us (media!!!)
A common
weakness for many girls can be the temptation to spend a lot of time
daydreaming. What are some ways we can
deal with this?
Life is
short. We should be seeking to serve the
Lords as much as we can with the amount of time He gives. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you could
do today.
It is
important to have the right priorities in place and to use wisdom in discerning
how much time we give to various activities.
Spending time with the Lord and taking care of our responsibilities
should come before entertainment or pleasure.
“Seest thou a man diligent in his
business? He shall stand before kings;
he shall not stand before mean (ordinary) men.”
Prov. 22:29
Activities
Doing a task
diligently amidst distraction…
List of
excuses contest…
List of time
wasters contest…
Tea and Treats
