Our Daily Bread: Remember the DreamSample

Workers Needed Now!

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. -2 Corinthians 6:2

I was fourteen years old when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Reverend Ralph Abernathy were arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 12, 1963. Though Dr. King was unknown to me, his was a loud, leading voice advocating for the civil rights of those who looked like me.

In his confinement—on scraps of paper—Dr. King penned his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” His “jailhouse epistle” included these words, “Human progress . . . comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”

In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul also combined the words co-workers and time. “As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. . . . I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (6: 1-2). If you have received forgiveness through Jesus, you are a member of God’s family. And because reconciliation is the Father’s business, it’s also the family business—we’re God’s “co-workers!” Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are channels of God’s grace. We’re gifted to serve in ways that honor our God and Father (see 1 Peter 4:10-11).

Though it would be a few more years before I was aware of Dr. King’s prominence, in March of 1964, I met my Savior, Jesus, the King of kings, and have been honored to be a part of the family business ever since.

Arthur Jackson

In what ways are you using what God has given you to serve Him? What’s keeping you now from participating more actively and intentionally in helping people believe in and serve Jesus?

Father in heaven, I am grateful for being a member of Your family. Help me to see myself as a co-worker with you to bring others to You.