Weekend, November 2, 2024

　　As Long As It Is Day

　　“As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” (John 9:4 NIV)

　　The daylight savings time change happens this time of year, when we’re reminded to “fall back” an hour. The idea is that we gain sixty minutes. What will you do with your extra hour?

　　The number one answer, of course, is sleep. But look again at the words of Jesus in John 9:4. There’s a time crunch ahead of eternity. As believers, we have a lot of work to do—and not a lot of time to do it.

　　God didn’t save you so that you would say, “Thanks for my salvation. I’m going to go live my life now, and I’ll see You later.” No, when you’re saved, you realize that God has a plan for your life. And your primary purpose for existence is to bring glory to Him.

　　Everything you do gives you an opportunity to bring glory to God. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul says, “You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (NLT). Every waking moment is an opportunity to honor God.

　　Three chapters later, in 1 Corinthians 9:24, Paul says, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” (NLT). Run to win. Not to conserve energy. Not to make a respectable showing. But to win. That calls for you to give everything possible. To be the best version of yourself.

　　In Matthew 6:4, Jesus says that when you do whatever you do for God’s glory, “your Father, who sees everything, will reward you” (NLT). He’s talking about even the smallest gesture. Jesus says in Matthew 10:42, “And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded” (NLT). There’s our motivation to work, to tackle with a sense of urgency the things God would have us do.

　　Not long ago, I talked to a man shortly after he had retired. Now that he was no longer pursuing his career, he said, “I’m not sure what I should do.”

　　I said, “Get busy serving the Lord! Find and develop your spiritual gifts and use them for the glory of God.” He had the luxury of not going to his 9-to-5 job anymore, and he had time on his hands. He just didn’t recognize the urgency of doing God’s work. He couldn’t see that it’s still day, but night is coming.

　　James 3:13 says, “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom” (NLT).

　　And Hebrews 10:24 says, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works” (NLT). Consider this your motivation.

　　Do you have an extra hour this week? You could spend that hour in prayer. Or, in God’s Word, studying a passage that hits a little too close to home and letting God work on you through His Word. You could reach out to someone who would be pleasantly surprised to hear from you. You could speak the truth in love to someone who needs to hear it. You could share the gospel with a friend.

　　For followers of Christ, there’s always work to do. And not a lot of time to do it.

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