I found an old book in my Dad's library, Watchman Nee's The Normal Christian Worker. I know Mr. Nee is criticized a good bit, but he also has some great things to say. Here are some of his comments from a chapter on the quality of diligence:

“A person who regards everything as a burden cannot be a faithful servant of the Lord” (14).

“Every faithful servant of Christ buys up the moments, and when he is not outwardly engaged he is inwardly active, waiting on the Lord in real heart-exercise” (15).

John 4:35 – “The time to work is now, not some future date. ‘Lift up your eyes and look’ He said, indicating the kind of workman He needed—one who does not stand waiting for the work to come to him, but one who has eyes to see the work that is already waiting to be done. . . . Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today” (15-16).

“Diligence is primarily an inward matter and is not measured by outward busyness” (16).

“Oh, that we might awaken to the weightiness of our responsibility, the urgency of the need around us, and the fleeting nature of time! . . . Let us, as dying men, give ourselves with all our powers to the dying around us” (19).