Work, for the Night is Coming
Joe Slater
	So much to do, so little time to do it. Competing interests vie for our time, making us feel like we’re in a pressure cooker. Even retired folks find their schedules too full.
	Jesus, too, felt the pressure of time. “I must work the works of Him Who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4). In John 7, the Feast of Tabernacles occurred; this would have been sometime in October. About six months later, in April, Jesus would be crucified. Already the Jews were indicating their willingness to use force against Him; once they had sent their officers to arrest Him (7:32), while later they had tried to stone Him (8:59). Though these attempts failed, Jesus knew that the dark night was rapidly approaching. Anything He would accomplish regarding His earthly ministry must be done right away.
	Note that Jesus understood what was really important: “the works of Him Who sent Me.” If you were to evaluate the way you’ve spent your life up to now, what would you say? Few would cry out, “Oh, how I wish I’d spent more time at my job!” We probably wouldn’t lament, “If only I’d watched more TV!” More likely we would bemoan that we didn’t spend more time with our spouses and children/grandchildren. We would regret neglecting Bible study, prayer, and church attendance. And, of course, we would wish we had taken the time to help that friend or neighbor come to know Christ.
	Jesus knew that the time to work for the Father is now. As my folks used to say, “Make hay while the sun shines!” No matter how young or old we may be, the night is coming for us, too. Let us work while it is day!
	And that brings up another point: Work lasts until the night comes. Jesus was busy for the Father right up until the very end. Not until the very night before His crucifixion did Jesus say, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4). Retirement from our employment is fine, but the work of God is a different matter. God’s retirement plan is truly “out of this world”!
	Let’s realize what is really important. Let’s work for the Father now. And let’s keep working until He says it’s time to quit!
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Ability
	Ability will enable you to get to the top; but it takes character to keep you there.
	Ability without ambition is like a car without an engine.
Action
	“I must do something” will always solve more problems than “Something must be done.”
Attitude:
	An optimist is one who can always see the bright side of the other person’s problems.
	Keep your face to the sunshine, and you cannot see the shadow. (Helen Keller)
		--via Buchanan Dam, TX
Borderline Christians
	A school superintendent had three applications to drive a school bus. He took the first applicant to a sharp curve on a steep grade and asked, “how close can you drive the bus to the edge of the road on the curve without going over the cliff with the children? The interested driver replied, “I believe I can go to within six inches and still be safe.”
	The second applicant heard the same proposition. He checked the curve and told the superintendent, “I believe I can drive within five inches of the edge and not go over the precipice.”
	When the superintendent took the third driver to the same highway scene and asked him the same question, the applicant immediately asked, “Do you think I’m crazy? I’m not interested in seeing how close I can get to the edge with the bus. I’ll be trying to see how far I can keep away from the danger line with those children.”
	The third applicant received the job.
	There is a borderline between the church and the world. The church is composed of those who are “called out” from the world of sin. John said, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).
	One who seeks to stay just as near to the world of sin as he possibly can, and still follow Christ, has the wrong attitude. An individual, as the driver, should stay just as far away from the danger zone as possible. Paul wrote, “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good” (Romans 12:9)
     --B. C. Goodpasture (adapted); via Bulletin Digest