We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. John 9:4
In the UK the clocks go forward one hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March, and back one hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October. The period when the clocks are one hour ahead is called British Summer Time (BST). To avoid confusion, many use the phrase “spring forward – fall back” to remember when the clocks change. Why do we do this? Daylight Saving Time (or ‘Summer Time’, as it’s known in many parts of the world) was created to make better use of the long sunlight hours of the summer. By ‘springing’ clocks forward an hour in March, we move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. Of course, this reverses when they go back, meaning it gets dark earlier in the afternoon.
Jesus spoke the words in today’s reader. He stated that He had a particular work to do on earth, but He used the pronoun “we” because we are part of that work! 2 Corinthians 5:18,20 shows us our part.
Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; … Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. 2 Corinthians 5:18,20 (ESV)
Paul previously grasped this fact in Acts 20:
“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” Acts 20:24 (NLT)
Jesus understood God’s plan for His life to be a ‘must’ (“We must work…”), not an option. At the age of twelve, He said:
I must be about my Father’s business. Luke 2:49 (KJV)
He also understood the urgency of the hour. The need was urgent. Urgency is that strong prompting that makes us do something now! We have an allotted season to work – time is short. God has a designated time frame “while it is day”.
There are many of us who are always so swept up in our daily chores, and the business and busyness of life, that we forget that we are running out of time to reach the lost. It is like we are waiting for something to happen such as another revival. But Jesus says that we need to look at the fields because they are white already to harvest. Today is the day of salvation.
May we always abound in the work of the Lord and adopt as our personal motto the words spoken by our Lord: “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.” As we meditate on this verse, may we realise afresh the urgency of the hour.