Day and Night
Read John 9:1-5; Romans 13:11-14
These two passages seem to be contradicting each other. Jesus says that the night is coming,a nd Paul tells us the night is far spent!
Of course, there is no contradiction, because Jesus and Paul are talking about two different nights. Jesus is reminding us that we must work today, while we have the opportunity, because the night is coming and we will not be able to work. Satan is out spreading darkness because he is the prince of darkness. Judas went out “and it was night” (Jn 13:30).
Paul sees this present age as a time of darkness, but the darkness is passing as we get nearer to the return of Jesus Christ. We are children of the day, not of the night (1 Th 5:1-9); therefore, we had better wake up, clean up, and dress up for the battle! Jesus is coming again, and we don’t want to be caught napping!
As far as Christian witness is concerned, the situation is getting darker. We must work for Christ while it is day; we must redeem the time—buy up the opportunity—before the darkness engulfs the world. But we must realize that, while darkness is coming to the world, the light is about to dawn for the Christian. The day star is about to appear! “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming” (1 Jn 2:28).
(Copyright, Warren W. Wiersbe. First appeared in Thoughts for Men on the Move. May not be copied or reproduced without express written permission of the author.)
Dr. Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) was an internationally known Bible teacher, author, and conference speaker. He graduated in 1953 from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. While attending seminary, he was ordained as pastor of Central Baptist Church in 1951 and served until 1957. From September 1957 to 1961, Wiersbe served as Director of The Literature Division for Youth for Christ International. From 1961 to 1971 he pastored Calvary Baptist Church of Covington, Kentucky south of Cincinnati, Ohio. His sermons were broadcast as the “Calvary Hour” on a local Cincinnati radio station. From 1971 to 1978, He served as the pastor of Moody Church in Chicago 1971 to 1978. While at Moody Church he continued in radio ministry. Between August 1979 and March 1982, he wrote bi-weekly for Christianity Today as “Eutychus X”, taught practical theology classes at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and wrote the course material and taught a Doctor of Ministry course at Trinity and Dallas Seminary. In 1980 he transitioned to Back to the Bible radio broadcasting network where he worked until 1990. Dr. Wiersbe became Writer in Residence at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. In his lifetime, Dr. Wiersbe wrote over 170 books—including the popular Be series, which has sold over four million copies. Dr. Wiersbe was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).
