September 19—Morning—Revelation 3:8
"I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it." — Revelation 3:8

Blessed Jesus! You have indeed done this and more. You are Yourself the door into Your fold here on earth and into Your courts above, for You have said, "whoever enters by Me will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." It is You who have opened a new and living way by Your blood. You are the only possible way of access to the Father. And because You have opened it, no one can shut it, for You live forever to keep the way open through Your all-prevailing intercession.

Yes, dear Lord, the gate is never shut, day or night, in the preaching of Your everlasting gospel, and all the ends of the earth shall see this salvation of our God. As You have graciously promised, all who come to God through You shall never be shut out. The word, the authority, the warrant of Jehovah has gone forth for this purpose. Your blood and righteousness guarantee it. The Spirit sets His seal to it. You will receive, You will bless, You will cause all the Father has given You to come to You, and You will keep the door open for all who come.

Oh, heavenly way! Oh, precious, endless salvation! My soul, be sure that you have entered in and are securely abiding. Oh, my fellow sinners who are still outside, awaken from your carnal security and sloth before the Master of the house rises and shuts the door, and you cry out too late, "Lord, Lord, open to us." Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.
 

September 19—Evening—Job 14:6
"A hired worker completes his day." — Job 14:6

The sufferings of Job are well-known, but the words of this afflicted believer, though spoken from a place of great pain, are sweet sermons for us. The figure of a hired worker finishing his day, which is fleeting and full of labor and sorrow due to original sin and actual transgressions, is a fitting though sad picture of human life. But when seen through the lens of the gospel, softened and sweetened by the blood of Christ, this short, burdensome life takes on a new meaning. In its brevity, life becomes better, and in its trials, more sanctified. As with Samson's riddle, "out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet" (Judges 14:14).

It is the blessed nature of grace to work through contrasts, so that the cross of Jesus, like the tree cast into the bitter waters of Marah, sweetens all the bitterness of our lives. My soul, if you have been taken from the rubble of sin and brought into the house and service of Jesus as a worker, remember that it is only after the day's work is done that the Lord of the vineyard calls the steward to pay the laborers. Even Jesus Himself appeared "at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26).

Is the life of a hired worker to be mourned because it is short, when every part of it is tainted with sin and filled with dissatisfaction? Isn't its brevity rather a blessing? And if all the comforts and blessings of God's house are reserved for His workers when the evening comes, and the steward is told to call them home to be paid, doesn't it comfort you, my soul, to know that your life here is but the day of a hired worker?

Has Jesus passed by, hired you, and sent you into His vineyard when you were standing idle in the marketplace? Have you been doing the work of the day according to the Lord's will? Has your Lord’s eye been upon you, and like another Boaz, has Jesus often visited you, blessed you, upheld you, refreshed your soul, and made you glad with the light of His presence (Ruth 2:4)?

Oh, bless Him then, that your time here is only as "a hired worker in his day." The evening will come, and the hour is near when Jesus will call you home to His "house, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." There, all the blessings of the everlasting covenant will be given to Jesus’s laborers, and the Lord's supper will be spread for all His redeemed, who will sit down with Him and never go out again. Amen.

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Source: Robert Hawker, The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portion