work while it is called today
May 1, 2021•319 words
. . . what a solemn lesson Christ gives us about the use of opportunities. He says to the disciples who asked Him about the blind man, “I must work while it is called today: the night cometh, when no man can work.” [John 9:4]
That saying was eminently true when applied to our Lord Himself. He knew well that his own earthly ministry would only last three years altogether, and knowing this He diligently redeemed the time. He let slip no opportunity of doing works of mercy and attending to His Father’s business. Morning, noon, and night He was always carrying on the work which the Father gave Him to do. It was His food and drink to do His Father’s will and to finish His work. His whole life breathed one sentiment – “I must work – the night cometh, when no man can work.”
The saying is one which should be remembered by all professing Christians. The life that we now live in the flesh is our day. Let us take care that we use it well for the glory of God and the good of our souls. Let us work out our salvation with fear and trembling, while it is called today. There is no work nor labor in the grave toward which we are all fast hastening. Let us pray, and read, and keep our Sabbaths holy, and hear God’s Word, and do good in our generation like men who never forget that “the night is at hand.” Our time is very short. Our daylight will soon be gone. Opportunities once lost can never be retrieved. A second lease of life is granted to no man. Then let us resist procrastination as we would resist the devil. Whatever our hand finds to do, let us do it with our might. “The night cometh, when no man can work.”
—J.C. Ryle, ‘Expository Thoughts on John’