The Night is Coming

I went past our local man-made lake the other evening and was delighted to see a flotilla of dinghies on the water. I don’t know if they were actually racing or practising for a race, but they made a fine sight as the sun was setting behind their white sails. If it had been summer, I would have been very envious of those sailors on the water. But it is autumn, and the temperature was barely into double figures. With less than an hour of light left, in all probability, they would be packing up their gear in the cold and dark.

I admire their persistence in meeting together, in getting out on to the water, despite the cold and oncoming darkness. They were grabbing every moment they could to do something they loved to do, training whilst there was still daylight to see.

Sometimes we think we can put things off until later in the day, or until tomorrow, rather than seizing the moment now. Jesus warned His followers that ‘Night is coming when no-one can work’ (John 9:4). He wasn’t talking about the physical darkness coming at the end of the day, but rather He was warning about the coming spiritual darkness.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews exhorted the believers of His day: ‘Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching’ (Hebrews 10:24-5).

As we see the ‘night’ coming, as we move towards the Day when Jesus will return for His church, His bride, let us continue to encourage one another to use every moment He gives us to join together in unity, and to ‘hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful’ (Hebrews 10:23).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You that You are still the light of the world. Forgive us when we don’t make full use of the time You give us. Help us to always encourage and pray for one another in the good times and in the dark times. Amen.