ESOCS Devotional 26 December 2021
TEXT: JOHN 9:1-12
MEMORY VERSE:
“I must the work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work” (John 9:4 KJV).
Our Lord Jesus Christ said our memory verse just before healing a man born blind. This statement declares His perspective on His calling, and ours. The first line is Jesus’ declaration of a mandate, a commission from God to do something. The first two words are a forceful statement of His sense of compelling responsibility, even duty: “I must.” The two Greek words could be literally translated, “Me / it behoves.” The strong verb means “to be under necessity of happening, it is necessary, one must, one has to.
Christ had an overwhelming sense of divine mandate to do what He did and say what He said. He knew He was not acting on His own. “To work the works of him” was to carry out fully and minutely the Father’s will for Jesus. Just as in English, the words translated “work” have the connotation of effort. The Lord speaks metaphorically to drive home the point: “while it is day.” He compares His ministry to the activity of a day labourer. This joins the idea of hard work with limited opportunity, as their work was irksome and they were hired one day at a time (Matt 20:2, 12). Jesus came into the world to work, not play. His life was dedicated to the fulfilment of moral duty and divine calling.
By definition, Christians are devoted followers of Jesus (Acts 11.26), with the same perspective and spirit, though His fervent devotion is a raging inferno compared to our little spark. As the Father sent Jesus, so He sends us (John 20.21). As we get to know Christ better and become more and more enamoured of Him, we will become increasingly passionate to spiritual duty (2 Cor. 3.18). We will wisely rebel against the frivolous time-wasting, so prevalent in our godless culture (Eph 5.15-16). Each Christian will say to himself “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day.”
What a picture of this life’s fleeting opportunity! “Only one life, it will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last”. If, in this life, you fail to seek the Lord with all your heart and soul, and to pursue holiness, you will throw away your only opportunity to be saved.
- Examine your life and see if you are still working the works of God.
- Lord, help me to work the works you have called me to do, in Jesu’s name.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
FURTHER READING: Acts 11:21–26; Ephesians 5: 15 – 21
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ESOCS Devotional 26 December 2021
