We have been talking this week about the brevity of life. We were reminded that life on earth is “like a morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone” (James 4:14). Because life is short, each and every second we have matters. We must be intentional and deliberate with the way we spend our time. The question is, what will we spend our time doing? As we consider how we will spend our time, the Bible makes it clear that spreading God’s message with the world is one of the most important things we can do with our time.
Jesus understood the brevity of time on earth, and He set an example of the importance of spreading the message of salvation with everyone around Him. He taught His disciples to do the same. He said to His disciples. “We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned to us by the One who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here, I am the light of the world (verses 4-5). Jesus knew that His time was short on earth. As a result, He lived deliberately every single second. He knew how valuable and precious His time was, and He made the most of every moment. This is seen in John 9 when Jesus took the time to heal a man who was blind. Not only did He use His time to bring healing, but He also used it to teach religious leaders of His day that it was possible to physically see yet be spiritually blind. Jesus took His call and mission seriously. He called His followers to do the same.
This mission Jesus demonstrated and gave to His disciples is a call to for you and me today. Because our time is short, we must follow Jesus’ example and spend our lives spreading His message, making the most of every moment. We must share the good news that Christ offers salvation to everyone who places their faith in Him. Our time is short and precious. May you and I spend our precious time making Christ known to everyone around us.
Sharing our faith with the people around us is vital. This often begins with sharing our story of how God has changed our lives. At Sagebrush, we call this our 2-minute story. Have you written your two-minute story? If so, review that story. The more you review your story, the more sharing your story will become a natural part of your everyday conversations. If you have not written your story, write it now. This story has three parts: your life before you knew Christ, how you came to know Christ, and your life after coming to know Christ. Make plans to review your story three times today! Don’t forget to thank God for making Himself known to you and changing your life.
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!
His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”
But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”
They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”
He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”
“Where is he now?” they asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.
Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”
The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”
The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?”
His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”
So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”
“I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”
“But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?”
“Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”
Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”
“Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.”
“You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.
Spiritual Blindness
When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”
“You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”
“Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.
Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”
Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”
