Working for the Lord

“It is finished!” ~ John 19:30

“Tetelestai!” cried Jesus. “It is finished!” Notice that He did not say, “I am finished!” He was shouting in triumph, witnessing to heaven and earth and sea that the work of redemption was accomplished. These were not the whimpering words of a defeated man, but the victory salute of a conqueror. “I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do,” He said to His Father in the Upper Room. Will we be able to say, “It is finished,” when our time comes? Not about the work of redemption, for only One could accomplish that – but about the work of telling the world about Him. Will we cry, “I am finished” or “It is finished” when God calls us home?

Recently I heard of a young Christian man who died in an accident. He had lived his short life for his Lord, making every happy moment count. His life had not been “cut off” as some suggested, but completed. If we have sought to finish the work He has given us to do (notice it does not say that we are to finish the work He has given someone else to do!), then like our Savior we will be able to commit our spirit into the Father’s keeping – in peace (see Matt. 27:50). Jesus, because He was Jesus, could say, “Spirit, go home.” We are not God and do not have the capacity to make our spirits obey us. But when God says to us, “Spirit, come home,” we shall go. May our missions be accomplished and a glad cry of “Tetelestai” be on our lips!