As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world (John 9:4-5).”
The Bible makes it clear, that work was designed by God for man’s earthly occupation (Gen 2:5). We are encouraged to be diligent in our work. We are further encouraged to work as unto the Lord, and not as unto man (Col. 3:23). The Bible has a lot to say about work. It is one of the ways we worship God. In the story of the man born blind, in John 9, Jesus offers some cryptic advice about work. He says, in verse 4, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” He follows this by declaring, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” What did Jesus mean by this? Perhaps, he was referring to a time when the “light of the world” would be removed, and work would become much more difficult to accomplish. Not just any work, but the work that God has commanded his children to do.
Today, believers are the “light of the world… (Mt. 5:14)” Quite often, however, we forget that we are co-laborers with Christ in God’s vineyard. We forget that our work is a sacred offering to God, as it helps to accomplish what God desires in the lives of his people. We forget that work is a gift from heaven, designed to bring us out into the mission field so we can accomplish the ultimate purposes of God. John 9:4-5, further suggests that we need to do God’s work with a sense of urgency, while we still have the time (day; light) and freedom to do so, for there is coming a time when darkness (night) will set in, when we can no longer work. Brethren, look around, the clouds are already forming all around us. Do you see it? Can you discern it?
Work is not always exciting. Sometimes it can be challenging, overwhelming or even downright boring. But work is the gift that God has bestowed upon us while it is still day. And just as Jesus’ work performed on the blind man elicited a community response (Jn.9:10), so too, let our work similarly elicit a community response, so that the glory of the Lord may become evident and that many may be saved.
How do you view work? As a gift and calling, as a chore, as a necessary nuisance (inconvenience) or maybe as something else? As we begin this new week, let us approach our work as missionaries entering the mission field, and may God allow our work to bring “sight” to the “blind.”