In the meantime there is a new SOAP journal posting today from the first couple verses of that passage. To read it, click the following link http://b4lukejournal.blogspot.com/ . You can also view past videos and blog articles here. In addition I am posting a classic bulletin devotional "The Days Grow Short" that is appropriate for the season and the text we head into next. We hope to see you back here next week.
The Days Grow Short
Autumn—the
season when nature grows dormant and dies back, it actually challenges me to
wake up and free myself from the cobwebs of inactivity. The days grow shorter
and cooler. Now, as I drive home from work, the sun is already setting when
only recently it would have been up for another four hours! The nights grow
longer and seem bolder as day by day my calendar nears its end. They signal
winter's rapid approach. Soon we will long for a warm dry day to be enjoyed to
its fullest, where just last week sunny and dry was business as usual.
I have to
ask myself whether I've grown spiritually lethargic and apathetic—having had so
many sunny days in which to work. I'm thankful that autumn's brisk winds cut
straight through my lungs to my heart. They remind me that time is short,
indeed precious, and to be used for His kingdom.
Jesus' words
in John 9:4-5 are quickened to me. He said, "I must work the works of
Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As
long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Have I been
sent? Has God given me a job to do? Husband, father, neighbor, witness,
encourager? Am I doing the works God created me to do (Ephesians 2:10), or am I
merely unfulfilled and unfruitful? The Lord knew His days on earth were
numbered, and He was committed to fulfilling His calling:
- revealing
God's character to the lost,
- restoring
sight to the blind,
- repelling
darkness, and,
- redeeming mankind from the power and penalty of sin.
He worked
with singleness of mind, heart, and purpose.
Jesus knew he
was sent. He knew his days were growing short. He knew what was at stake for himself,
for his disciples, for the multitudes, and for us. Our days in this world are
numbered and growing short. "So teach us to number our days, that we
may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). The time comes all too
swiftly when we go to meet our Lord through that doorway called death. I know
I've had many sunny days to minister God's love, light, and life to others, and
I don't want to go into Jesus' presence trying to explain why I took my one, or
two, or five talents and buried them in the TV, a book, or my own appetites.
God wants us to invest our all in reaching the lost with the good news that He
has paid the price for our sins. He is not willing that anyone should perish
but that everyone would come to repentance. Yet, He is coming soon: the night
is coming when no one can work . . . when it will be too late.
We don't know how long we'll be here.
We don't know how long they'll be
here.We don't know how long until He gets here.
The days are only getting shorter.
Seeking
a heart of wisdom,
Pastor
Greg
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