Daily Devotions
“As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent Me.” John 9:4
While Jesus was preaching and healing in Galilee and Samaria, Pharisees warned Him: “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill You” (Luke 13:31). It is not clear why men who were opponents would say this; perhaps their intent was to get Jesus to leave, for He was gaining many followers.
Our Lord refused to be intimidated. Until the time came for Him to suffer and die for all mankind, he had His work cut out for Him, and no one, not even King Herod, could stop Him. Further, Jesus foreknew that it would be in Jerusalem, not in a Galilean or a Samaritan town, that He would be arrested and killed. He said, “Surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33). He was right.
We are thankful for Christ’s commitment to His work in our behalf. He said on another occasion that He must “do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4). Preaching, teaching, healing – this is what Jesus did during His three-year prophetic ministry. At the appropriate time he would also be our High Priest, offering up Himself on the cross for our sins.
Also for our lives it is true: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). What Longfellow says of the village blacksmith applies to most of us: “Each morning sees some task begun: Each evening sees its close.” This was certainly the case with Jesus.
PRAYER: O Lord Jesus, direct me in selecting and doing the work You want me to do today. Amen.
(Devotions from “With Jesus Every Day” copyright 1997, CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend. For information on other devotional material, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.)