4 January 2026

THE URGENCY OF SERVING GOD

(Biblical Teachings on The Christian Life.: BTCL 15)

Our motivational verse for 2026 is John 9:4 in which our Lord Jesus said, “We must work the works of Him Who sent Me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work”. Here He impressed upon His disciples of fulfilling the works of God that the Father had sent Jesus to do. Jesus Himself must have felt the urgency, as the time of His Death was drawing near. The “works” Jesus came to do on earth was to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, ministering to the sick and demonized and saving sinners by forgiving those who believed in Him.

Now He tells or rather commands His disciples to do the same.

1. Work While It is Day.
The reason is because they could not do so when night comes. In ancient times there were no street lightings like we have today. Hence it was not possible for anyone to do any work. This suggests that they only had a short time. We also do not have much time on our hands. That is because we do not know how long we will live. The Bible warns us: “For what is your life? It is like the vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:24). We are not in control of our lives; it is God who determines how long we should live. Hence, we should live for God and for His service and to fulfill His will for the world.

2. The Night is Coming.
The night speaks of darkness and the works of darkness, and evil is ever on the increase. The Bible tells us that “evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim.3:13). The great deceiver is Satan himself and he holds people in bondage to do his evil (1 John 5:19). He is also preventing people from coming to Christ and working very hard at it because he knows his time is short. For the Church and Christians, this must spur us to hasten the preaching of the Gospel to all people before the end comes.

3. The Work God has Assigned.
God sent His Son Jesus into the world preach the Gospel, manifest His Glory through love and saving souls. We are to do the same. Jesus said, “As My Father has sent Me, so I am sending you” (John 20:21). We are now sent by Christ “into the world to preach the Gospel and make disciples of all nations” (Mk 16:15; Matt.28:19). The world’s population of 8.3 billion is still growing. There are some 3 billion who have never heard of Jesus and millions are dying every day without Christ. This is how urgent it is for us to preach the Gospel to people around us and especially to those in places where the Gospel has not gone.

That is why Missions is so important. Missions is the heartbeat of God and we must have the same heartbeat if we truly love God. God loves the world and wills the salvation of all men; hence He commands us to reach the world with the Gospel. Every disciple of Christ must be involved in missions by prayer, witnessing to people and supporting missionaries.

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