Now
Many live their lives responding to urgent demands of one kind or another. The introduction to urgency comes early. Hunger pangs spring out of nowhere and the baby begins to howl. Later as he begins to control the other end of his digestive system, the child will suddenly announce his need to visit the bathroom in the most inopportune moments and usually at a volume inversely proportional to the parents’ desire to be discrete.
Soon we learn to respond not only to our own urgent needs but to the urgent demands of others. Things have to be done immediately: before gramma arrives, before mommy goes to the store, before daddy’s birthday comes. Later the circle includes assignment deadlines. This is where some of us begin to learn the fine art of procrastination. “Hand it in by next Friday” can mean “start working on it this weekend” or “do it Thursday night.” Either way, the focus is on handing it in on Friday.
Later still, employers will look over our shoulder to make sure we meet deadlines. Getting it done on time, not putting it off, doing it now, shapes our daily lives. The importance of these demands are usually (admittedly, not always) directly linked to the shortness of the view. When viewed over time, the seemingly catastrophic results of “not doing it now” are often fodder for character building at best and uncontrollable laughter at worst.
I recall one family’s hilarious account of an occasion when they were to appear on stage for a local musical presentation. One of the children had missed his chance to visit the bathroom earlier in the evening. As they waited in the wings, the “urge” suddenly descended upon him. He informed his father who declared it was too late and that he would have to wait. Minutes later, on stage, in front of the entire community, the little guy had a very public “accident.” In the short view embarrassing for all. In the middle distance a learning opportunity. Years later a story to be relived at family gatherings. By the way, it was the principal character in the story who told it to me.
Ironically, without a deadline, few of us will do anything “now.” It doesn’t matter how important something is, many of us would rather do something inconsequential first. The problem is that often the most important things don’t come with deadlines, so we put them off until this thing we could always deal with later becomes urgent and demands immediate action. Then we scramble to beat the deadline and curse ourselves for not having started a lot sooner.
Spiritually, we all acknowledge a vague deadline. We call it death. But for most of us, it seems so remote as to be insignificant. Yes, preparation for our exit from life is important, but a host of trivialities call for our attention first. To worry about death, eternity, meeting God and the like seems kind of morbid when there is so much life ahead. Surely that can wait. We put it off. And putting it off becomes a lifestyle.
There are lots of areas of life where “putting it off” doesn’t have much of an impact. The chronically messy desk, the garden overrun with weeds, the continually cluttered kitchen, the perpetually dirty car, the unread books, the undone chores, and on and on goes the list. These are inconveniences to live with, hindrances to advancement, embarrassments to bear, but ultimately not significant. Putting off making our peace with God, though, is another matter. It will affect us throughout eternity, and that’s a long, long, time.
Most people who get things done do so by doing whatever it is “now.” They don’t put it off until they do something else. They don’t wait for a better time. They don’t take a nap first, or have lunch first, or water the plants first, or do anything else first. They do it now.
The Bible challenges us with the importance of acting “now” on the most important issue of life: preparing for death. “You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14 NKJV) “Now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2 NIV)
Ron Hughes
© July 2007
