Today’s devotion highlights the importance of not wasting our opportunities to share the Gospel. Rather than debating who has sinned, we should focus on spreading God’s Word so that others can come to Jesus and be saved.

Bible Reading of the Day
AM – 1 Chronicles 11-13
PM – John 9:1-23

𝕿𝖎𝖙𝖑𝖊: 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗, 𝖂𝖍𝖔 𝕯𝖎𝖉 𝕾𝖎𝖓?
𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝟗:𝟐,𝟑 𝐊𝐉𝐕
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒅? ³ 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝑵𝑬𝑰𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔: 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎.

In the last verse of chapter 8, a religious leader took stones to throw at Jesus, but He hid Himself. Then, at the start of chapter 9, Jesus and His disciples met a man blind from birth, leading the disciples to ask, “𝔚𝔥𝔬 𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔫𝔢𝔡, 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔪𝔞𝔫 𝔬𝔯 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔰?”

The Jews believed that if a pregnant woman worshipped in a pagan temple, her unborn child engaged in adulterous acts. They thought immoral behaviours of parents could cause disabilities in children. Factors like alcohol, drugs, and sexually transmitted diseases were seen as potential causes of birth defects. They also believed in the pre-existence of the soul, claiming it existed before creation in the Garden of Eden and waited to inhabit a body. However, many consider these beliefs nonsensical.

The Lord Jesus Christ answered his disciples’ question with ‘𝗡𝗘𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥,’ indicating that no one sinned to cause the handicap. He explained that the purpose of this condition is so that God’s works can be revealed through him. Then, he stressed the importance of their current tasks, saying, “𝑰 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒚: 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌.”

Brethren, when Jesus responded to the disciples’ question, He didn’t identify who had sinned; instead, He focused on how that sin impacted the blind man. When encountering a problem or difficult situation, we should avoid looking for someone to blame. Rather, we should ask the Lord, “𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔠𝔞𝔫 ℑ 𝔡𝔬 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔭 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔦𝔫 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔰 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔴𝔞𝔶?”

The Lord’s phrase “𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊𝖙𝖍” may symbolize death. Beloved, we must seize the opportunities given to us, as they can disappear quickly—like vapor, here one moment and gone the next. Let’s respond to this urgency. All of us are called to spread the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The crisis faced by the blind man turned into an opportunity to glorify God. Don’t let your chances, especially for salvation, pass by. If you don’t know the Lord, now is the time to seek salvation!

Keep in mind that the biggest tragedy for anyone is thinking it’s too late to act on what they should have done, whether it’s pursuing salvation or giving more to God. Even if many Christians seem inactive, every Christian has a sense of purpose.