In This Issue:
Do When You Are Able
Work While You Can
A Last Effort
Volume: 1053 June 22, 2026
Theme: Service
Do When You Are Able
Bill Brinkworth
After hearing a missionary talk about his plans when he reaches his field of service, my heart was crushed. He spoke of the ministries in which he was currently involved. The list was long. I thought, “I used to do those ministries.” I never wanted to be “I-used-to-be” Christian, and now it seemed I was.
He mentioned that he had taught and preached in public schools in America. I was excited for him. I always wanted to expand my children’s ministry to the public schools, but there were no open doors for me.
That man of God suggested that he could use more helpers in that area. I wanted to hoist my hand up and sign on the dotted line right away, but at that time, it was not a possibility.
My wife had some serious health concerns for over 11 years. During those years, she was not able to leave the house much and was very limited in what she could do. Because of her condition, I was also housebound while looking after her.
After continuing to listen to the missionary expound on his plans, guilt for not being able to do the ministries I had been doing for several decades weighed heavily on my heart. I could not get his summons to teach biblical principles in the public school out of my mind. The more I thought about it, the sadder I became. I could not do what I used to do.
After suffering for a while, the Holy Spirit intervened in my misery. The thought of “You have a new ministry now taking care of your wife,” soon replaced the guilty feelings I had for not being able to do what I had done in the past. I had no qualms about helping my wife and doing what needed to be done. It is an honor, a privilege, and a keeping of the promise: “… in sickness and health.” However, I do miss what I was able to do for so long.
I loved doing all God allowed me to do in the past. Every single opportunity was a blessing. I never planned for those ministries to end. I figured, as hard as it is to get some to serve the Lord, the Lord would certainly allow me to serve Him in those capacities to my dying day. However, my wife’s health problems came and caught us by surprise. In a short time, most of those opportunities ended abruptly.
I still have two ministries that I have been able to maintain, for which I am so grateful. Then I started contemplating, “What if I wasted all my early years, and never did anything for the Lord, and now I wanted to.” That would be a terrible regret to endure. Yet, so many people find themselves in that situation. When they had health and opportunity, they did little or nothing for the Lord. It was all about them, and little was done for the Lord and others.
Most, if they live long enough, will also find themselves in the situation I faced. Do what you can while you can for the Lord, because one day you may not be able to do for Him what you can now. Do not waste the time the Lord has given you. Do something for Him. Even if it is what you consider a small, insignificant ministry, do it for the Lord while you are able.
“For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 84:10
You may not be able to do as much as you could have in the past, but there must be something you can do for the Lord now! Your time for doing something that will bless you for eternity may end sooner than you realize.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Eccl. 9:10
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” I Cor. 10:31
“O Father, may it never be said of us that having come to an open door, we closed it; having come to a lighted candle, we quenched it; having heard the voice of a neighbor begging bread, we made denial, speaking of our own case.” — Mc Kenzie
Work While You Can
Bill Brinkworth
“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. 7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.” Ecclesiastes 9:5-7
Although I have never been to Hawaii, I understand it is one of the prettiest places in the world. It has an ideal climate, beautiful scenery, and many fantastic sites to see.
Can you imagine winning a free, year-long vacation there? With that prize, you would have free transportation, lavish hotel suites, and the finest meals.
Somehow, you did not read all the fine print regarding the vacation. You failed to realize that anything extra, including snacks, sightseeing trips, and other extras would be at your own expense, and you did not bring any extra money. For one year, you lived in a gorgeous place.
However, you could not fully enjoy all it had to offer because you could only afford to sit in your luxurious room and watch the wise, prepared people enjoy one of the world’s most wonderful places. You were there, but you were a pauper in paradise.
Sadly, for many saved people, their eternity with the Lord will be too much like that of the “pauper in paradise.” They did what God required to get them to Heaven; they got saved. However, they did nothing with their salvation! They did little of what the Bible commands a child of God to do, and they did little while on this Earth that would have eternal value. They had no “portion for ever in anything ….” They did not invest their lives for the glory of God, and will certainly be lacking in a place where they will spend eternity. Their eternal “IRA” had few deposits!
While we are alive, we are not just to sit around and soak up the goodness of God. We are to do something for the Lord while we have breath! Work for the Lord while there is still time!
Do something while you can. That is why God still has you here! There is much work to be done for the Lord, and you are the workers God is counting on to complete His tasks!
“The church is a workshop, not a dormitory, and every Christian man and woman is bound to help in the common cause.” — MacLaren
“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.).” II Cor. 6:1-2
As fall approached, animal life was doing what God had programmed it to do as winter approached in the North Carolina mountains. Squirrels were scurrying about with additions to their acorn caches. Birds were stopping into my garden to ravish what they could before flying south. Spiders were weaving their last webs to trap food; I suppose to lay that last egg that will bring in their next generation in the following spring.
After walking into many of the massive webs and almost having a huge spider land on me and possibly bite me, I started spraying them with spider poison. One large spider did an unusual thing as the spray slowly took her life.
As she sat there dying, she spun one last silvery thread before her demise. She must have known she was dying, but the spider did her best to do what she needed to do while there was still time. Her priority was to finish that web before it was too late.
Many spend their last years as did that spider in her last moments. For their whole life, they did as they wished; little was done for the Lord, but much was done to make life on Earth pleasurable and comfortable.
Much effort was put into buying and building things for this life, but little, if anything, was done to prepare for the eternal next. However, when death is seen as imminent, a sudden change is made in their lifestyle.
They scurry about as that spider did in her last moments to do something for the Lord, finally. Ignored righteous living, Bible reading, church-going, and prayer time get a higher priority before it is too late. They want to prepare their life for eternity while they still have time.
It is good that they finally got their priorities right before it was too late! Some, however few, get saved in their last years. Many who were saved in their younger lives finally come to see obedience to God’s commandments as more important in their waning hours.
It is better now than never that they turn their lives around, but think of all the wasted time that could have been better served in living for the Lord. Think of all the heartaches, problems, and mistakes that could have been avoided if they had lived their life His way and not their’s.
Think of how different this world would have been if all who were saved at a younger age immediately lived for the Lord and by His standards while they had breath. Their living example may have guided many others to live righteously as well!
Are you 100% sure that if you were to die today or tomorrow, you would go to Heaven? Trust Christ’s death as the only payment for your sin now! You may not have tomorrow. Your heart may also get so hardened to the pleading of the Holy Spirit’s call for salvation that you may never get saved later.
Have you been saved in the past but are putting off doing what God has already laid on your heart to do — read your Bible, pray, attend church, get involved in a ministry …? If so, serve Him now, as you have no promise of tomorrow, or the opportunity may be gone when you think you are ready!
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can and as long as you can.” — John Wesley