LEARNING DAILY

John 9:4, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is still day; the night is coming when no one can work.”  Jesus

I am stuck on this saying of the Lord Jesus as spoken to the disciples. I am stuck on it because doing the work of the Lord is precisely what every Believer needs to do. We work – not to be saved because every Believer is saved by their confession of faith in Jesus Christ – because we are saved. In the last page of the blog I wrote, “We must allow the love of Jesus in us to stop to help those in need help, those who God brings into our path.” I was on my way home from Home Depot this morning when I drove by a woman holding up a sign saying she needed help. I drove on past her. I got about a hundred yards beyond her when the Spirit of God spoke to me (Know I seldom express that; but there was absolutely no doubt!), saying, “What did you write today about helping those in need when I give you opportunity? Yes, I tried to ignore it until the word came “Hypocrite”! Yes, I turned around. I even asked her to forgive me for driving past her. Yes, I did help her. Now that might not be what you would do; for me it was needed to be done because of obedience.

I do not know what work God has called you to do to bring honor to Him. I encourage you to do it. Jesus told His disciples that He “must work”. There was no debate. There was no if I want to, I will. “I must”! With Jesus, He could not help Himself. He wanted to help the blind to see. He wanted to open the eyes and the hearts for men and women to come to Him. He could not stop healing those who desired to be healed. He did all He could to save mankind from perishing; it was His love for people and His desire to “work the works of Him who sent Him” that drove Him to the cross, His greatest sacrifice. It was the name of every person who would say “yes” to His offer of salvation that caused Him to say, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me”.

I believe it was seeing the multitude of people that were perishing and the misery they were living in, that continued to drive Him, even when there were Jews who had picked up stones to stone Him. He had only so much time to work. His work had not been something He decided to do once His ministry began. His work was the work His father had established for Him to do. He did not pick and choose what He did; He did all the Father had given Him to do. He saved souls from an eternity in hell. His works of healing, casting out demons, resurrecting the dead opening the eyes of the blind and making weak and disabled legs strong were acts of mercy and works that pointed to the One who sent Him. Nothing was done out of selfish ambition and to gain recognition for Himself. He had no desire to be made a king of the land because His kingdom was not of this world.

Don’t you know that Believers are to do the work of Him who saved your soul and set you on a narrow way. Your work is different from mine; we are each to follow the way established for you. It is on the narrow way, but with different work to accomplish – all for the glory of the One who saved you. Do the work “while it is still day”, while you still can. I recently looked in the mirror and saw the color of my hair had changed; I must work while I am still able because I don’t know how much day I have left. I have read that Jesus does not ask us to do anything we are unable to do. He just wants us to do what He has given us to do. That may be to tell others about what He has done to save and change you. It might be to pray for others, specifically for those in your family. It might be to preach His word, to be an usher or volunteer in the church. It might be to stop and give someone in need a little cash and a word of encouragement. The point is “to work the works of Him who sent Me (you) while it is still day”! And do it cheerfully!