Perhaps it may turn out a sang,
Perhaps turn out a sermon.

-- R. Burns Epistle to a Young Friend

Monday, March 17, 2014

Do You Have the Time?



We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. --John 9:4


The Lord made this statement to His disciples because He was on His way to the Cross.  I think that we are to “make hay while the sun shines”.  It is a basic principle of a successful life that we ought to make use of present opportunities – unless the Spirit checks us.  The promises of the future may not be fulfilled. 

Jesus says this in the context of a question from His followers when they came upon a man blind from birth and wanted to know if the cause of this defect lay with the individual or his parents.   Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him (John 9:3).  This doesn’t mean, I don’t believe, that God made this man blind just so He could cure him.  A couple of chapters farther on, Jesus says something similar with regard to the illness of Lazarus being a condition that “does not lead to death” but being for the glory of God (John 11:4). It means that God seizes the opportunities created by evil and the consequences of our living in a fallen world to bring us life, encouragement, hope, and joy.

I do not often know why things happen.  In this sense, any work that I do is usually done in the dark.  I do what my hand finds to do (Ecclesiastes 9:10) as best I can.  I cannot know if it will make much difference in the course of history, but it will make a difference in me and possibly in another person or two that I am able to help out. 

We say we want workers to be paid a “living wage” yet we decry employers like Chick-Fil-A and Hobby Lobby because they are owned by Christians.  We mock, attack, and ridicule Christianity and Christian values then are shocked to find that businesses, corporations, and governments are concerned only with money, power, and control and are rife with corruption, dishonesty, hypocrisy, and scandal.  We celebrate degeneracy and decadence and wonder why things are dying and going downhill.

The cure for America is not to pass laws requiring us to treat one another like – I don’t know – maybe Christians, but for us as individual Christians to live like Christians regardless of the government or the media or what other people think.  Right now that is not too hard, but it is getting harder quickly.  When the government can force businesses to fund abortions or bake cakes in violation of their convictions and religious beliefs, we are bordering on persecution.   

The time to get on the right track is now.  The time to do the right thing is now.  The time to stand up together against tyranny and government overreach is now.  The time for fervent prayer is now.  The time for radical obedience is now.  The time to do the works of Him who sends us is now.  

The time is now.

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