Siku Rin Wana

Siku Rin Wana

One of these days, I am gonna learn Spanish. It is something I truly desire to do, but I am slow at learning. I have the desire, but I guess not the heart. Or it could be that I am just a plain old procrastinator. It takes a lot to get me energized sometimes. I seem to always wait until the 1st of April every year to start doing my taxes. I don't do Christmas shopping early, because I am not too fond of the process (nor the fiasco everyone has made of this joyous season). I usually wait for 60 days or so to file all my bills and other paperwork I get in, so my desk is usually a mess. I put things off all the time. I put off finding a builder for our house we lost--this may cost me a few "thou" in insurance coverage as we now, finally, have a tentative move-back-in-date of 1 Dec. Someday, other things may catch up with me if I don't change.

The Bible is chock-full of stories about procrastinators. Epic tales about people waiting for something to happen before they act. Can you imagine yourself being alive during the time just before Jesus was born? Think of how you would be acting, waiting for this 'great king' to appear who was thought would dominate the earth. Would you have been procrastinating? Probably. I know I would have. After all, this prophesy of the great saviour had been going on for thousands of years. Who would have expected it to happen when it did? When Jesus did arrive, now you might understand what He saw. Everywhere he turned, he saw people who had not been faithful to God, because they had procrastinated.

Why did they, and I, act like this so much? Why do we "put off for tomorrow, what we should have done today"? I guess the answer is really simple. We don't believe in urgency. When I first studied any Bible, I was 46 years old. Until the time I was introduced to a family of brothers and sisters in the Atlanta Church of Christ, I had absolutely no urgency to even READ a Bible, say nothing about studying one. A lot of folks were probably similar to me, prior to joining this church. In 1st Thessalonians, Chapter 5, Paul talks about procrastination. He warns us that one of these days Jesus is going to return. We won't know the day, the hour or minute, but He WILL appear. Those verses were taught to me during my study period (which encompassed almost five months, by the way), and until I really understood what it meant, I was not motivated to do anything for God. Or even myself. I didn't mind living in sin. Lying, cheating, being dishonest, selfish and prideful (I still 'struggle', as we say, with those sins) was a way of my life. It became so commonplace, it didn't bother me. But when I finally came to realize that some day, ANY day, Jesus will return to claim those who love Him, I became serious.

I know each of you, at your 'conversion', probably fealt similarly. Upon gaining that Godly sorrow that we talk about a lot (see 2nd Cor, ch 7), we all saw the necessity to repent from our sinful lives. And we wanted to do it right then. Remember being 'warned' about a Mack truck (no relation!!) killing you before you were baptized? You were warned by sincere-hearted people, not for them to 'chalk up another disciple', but for their love for you. How quickly we sometimes forget that. I thank Don Hagemann, JD Massey and Gary and Greg Adams for their sincere love for me. They guided me through those studies, hard-headed as I was, to see the urgency in the need for my belief, repentance and upcoming baptism. Yes, I was warned about that 18-wheeler, too. I stopped procrastinating after that, and started to really dig into my Bible to see if what they were saying was true (ya know...like a Berean (Acts, chapter 17)). I realized that any day, two things could happen. One, I could die in an instant, and then would have to wait for Jesus' return, or Two, Jesus would suddenly appear and take with Him to heaven those who earnestly sought Him, and cast the rest of us into the fiery pit of hell. (YOU find those Scriptures--they exist).

One of these days, that IS going to happen. I am not 100% sure I am saved. I THINK I am. I BELIEVE I am. But I do not know for sure. My faith, however strong or weak that is, is that I AM saved. I believe I that I am ready for Jesus (or death---see an earlier study of mine about preparing yourself for death--Ghandis' Advice (http://www.macisirish.com/QuietTimes/GhandisAdvice.htm). I hope my procrastination is over on this subject.

Maybe it will happen in the next Millenium, or maybe the next decade, or even maybe this year. It might happen next month; or next week, or tomorrow, or tonight, or .....now???????. WHENEVER it occurs, the return of Jesus , or my death, it will be 'one of these days'.

There has been a lot of talk, disgruntlement, concern, and other ways of people showing their displeasure with the leadership in our church. And I am not excluded. BUT, when Jesus comes, or my life ends, I don't want my heart filled with bitterness toward anyone. If that occurs, I probably am living my life in vain, simply because my heart is not where it needs to be. I say NAY (hmmm, that sounds sorta English, don't it), I want to be ready for Jesus when He returns. It can be any day now.

Are you procrastinating about anything right now? Should I leave the church? Should I give up on church all together, as they are all the same? OR, should I start each day with a prayer? Should I study my Bible daily (the Bible tells us to)? Should I evangelize (Jesus COMMANDS us to in Mathew 28)? Should I forgive those who 'seemed' to have harmed me? (Include your church leaders in this one!!) Should I try to love my ENEMIES? "I" say, if we don't start doing those things which Jesus commands us; if we procrastinate any longer, we are in danger of losing our very souls. One of these days Jesus will return, and we don't know when that will occur? Are you ready for Him, or are you still procrastinating?