2018 Weekly Devotional - Week 25

Week 25

“As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We
must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. “

    I was about nine years old when John Wayne starred in the movie “The Cowboys”. My dad took my brother and me to see that movie and we loved it! To this day it is one of my favorite movies and one of only three movies in which (spoiler alert!) John Wayne dies. Who didn’t like the cook, Jebediah Nightlinger? Who couldn’t stand Bruce Dern’s character, Long Hair? The main story line is John Wayne must hire a group of young boys to help him move his cattle to market. These boys have to be taught just about everything concerning moving cattle on the open range. An oft-repeated line by John Wayne’s character Wil Andersen, is, “We’re burnin’ daylight”. In other words, “stop wasting time, we have urgent business.”

    In today’s passage Jesus speaks about the urgency of doing the Lord’s work while it is still “day” because “night” is coming and we will not be able to work the works of the Lord then. Do you have a sense of urgency when it comes to the Lord’s work? Do you truly believe that the Lord could come back any moment? We will not be able to do what the Lord would have us to do after that day for no man can work then. There ought to be a sense of urgency in our lives when it comes to doing the Lord’s work. Often, we are quite cavalier about God’s work believing there will be plenty of time later or that there are more important matters at hand.

    Ultimately “The Cowboys” is a story about a man who invests his life into young men. You see his influence near the end of the movie when one of the boys yells out Wil Andersen’s line. Let me encourage you to have a sense of urgency when the Lord prompts your heart concerning a matter. Why? We’re burnin’ daylight!

In Christ

John