Do Business Till I Come

On May 19, 1780, New Englanders were shocked when it became as dark as night at noon. Many people believed that Judgment Day had come, and some in the Connecticut State Senate moved that their work be adjourned for the day. However, a preacher’s son by the name of Abraham Davenport opposed this suggestion. John Greenleaf Whittier, in a poem called “Abraham Davenport,” presents Davenport’s response this way: …

This well may be

The Day of Judgment which the world awaits;

But be it so or not, I only know

My present duty, and my Lord’s command

To occupy till He come. So at the post

Where He hast set me in His providence,

I choose, for one, to meet Him face to face,

No faithless servant frightened from my task,

But ready when the Lord of the harvest calls;

And therefore, with all reverence, I would say,

Let God do His work, we will see to ours.

Bring in the candles.” And they brought them in.

Many people are frightened when they consider the coming end of the world, just as Jesus predicted: “Men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth” (Luke 21: 25). However, God’s faithful do not need to fear. When we see signs of Jesus’ return, we should be encouraged in our work “because [our] redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).

So instead of being afraid while we wait, we should do as Jesus instructed in the parable: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come’” (Luke 19:12, 13).

Key Bible Texts

Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; (2 Timothy 1:8 KJV)