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WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
(Delivered 12-29-02)

Once a clock broke down and began to chime erratically. When it got to 13, a child ran to his mother yelling, “Come quick mom, it’s later than it’s ever been before.”

Well, as we look toward 2003, it is later than it’s ever been.
Many people say, “One of these days, I’m gonna get my debts paid”; “One of these days, I’m gonna spend more time with my family”; “One of these days, I’m gonna start going to church!”

Well, what are you waiting for? Time is passing. Life is short. As David said, “There is only a step between me and death” (I Sam. 20:3).

Later he said, “Our days on earth are like a shadow” (I Chron. 29:15).

The Psalmist said, “How fleeting is my life” (Psa. 89:47).

Job said, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle” (Job. 7:6). “They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping down on their prey” (Job 9:26).

Paul said, “For this world in its present form is passing away” (I Cor. 7:31).

James said, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

If life is that brief and time is that limited, What are we waiting for? If we’re ever going to make a difference, we must do it now. Paul said, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Cor. 6:2, kjv).

So, What are you waiting for?

There are many reasons to make decisions now and achieve goals
now:

I. FIRST, THE LONGER WE WAIT THE HARDER IT GETS.
The writer of Ecclesiastes said, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’ ” (Ecc. 12:1).

That means as you age you’ll have more and more obstacles in your path. We’ve all heard that, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

Well, you can, but it’s not easy. Change is always difficult.
But it gets increasingly difficult as the years pass. Our body becomes conditioned to certain patterns of behavior. Our minds get set in certain belief systems. Continuing on the same path is more comfortable than change.

Thomas Hood wrote a sad poem about the ageing effect. He said:

I remember, I remember,
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn;

He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day;
But now, I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away.

I remember, I remember,
Where I was used to swing;
And thought the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the wing;

My spirit flew in feathers then,
That is so heavy now,
And summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow!

I remember, I remember,
The fir trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky;

It was a childish ignorance,

But now ‘tis little joy
To know I’m farther off from heaven
Than when I was a boy.

Yes, the longer we wait the harder it gets.

II. SECOND, THE LONGER WE WAIT, THE MORE TIME IS WASTED.

Paul said, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16, kjv).

A man he recalled a time when he was a child, his aunt had been able to buy three lemons. In those early rural days lemons were both rare and expensive. It was a hot summer's day and everyone in the family anticipated some cool lemonade. But Aunt Sara decided that it would be wiser to save them for an even hotter day when they would enjoy lemonade even more.

A week later, one of Malcolm's brothers said he thought it would be especially nice if they could have the lemonade. But, again, Aunt Sara thought it would be better to wait.

On and on it went until one late August day when the mercury in the thermometer on the barn rose past the l00-degree mark, Aunt Sara finally agreed to have the lemonade. But when she went to the cupboard the lemons were shriveled and dry.

We must not be like the diet conscious lady on the Titanic who, as she climbed into a lifeboat, facing an uncertain future cried in anguish, “Oh, if I’d known this was going to happen, I’d have eaten that chocolate mousse for dessert.”

Acting now can make us more productive. A woman told of serving on a committee with a leader who always seemed to accomplish three times as much work as anyone else.

She said, “As she checked her notes one day I caught a glimpse of a sketch of a tiny stick of dynamite. Across it was written “TNT.”

“What is that?” I asked.

“Oh . . . that’s my little trademark,” she said, smiling.

“Dynamite?” I asked.

“No,” she laughed. “TNT stands for: ‘Today, Not Tomorrow!’ “ Avoiding procrastination was her secret. Acting “Today, Not Tomorrow” means we should make the most of every opportunity.
That’s important because the longer we wait, the more time is wasted.

III. THIRD, THE LONGER WE WAIT THE MORE RISK WE TAKE.

Paul said, “The time is short . . .” (I Cor. 7:29).

A certain easy-going man’s favorite phrase was “One of these days.” He would predict that: “One of these days, he would take that back-pack trip in the Rockies with his kids”; “One of these days he and his wife would attend the church retreat for married couples”; “One of these days he would learn to play the guitar!”

Then, one of those days, he had a sudden heart attack, and there were no more days.

“This is the day,” the Psalmist sang. Not tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that. “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us to rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

We have no days to waste. These words are written on a famous sundial at John Hopkins Hospital:

“The only hour within thy hands,
Is the hour on which this shadow stands.”

Opportunities do not return. There is a time to speak a word; There is a time to perform a deed; There is a time to learn a lesson; There is a time to acquire a skill. There is also a time to enjoy a pleasure.

An old poem is entitled, “Tragedy.” It describe’s a tragedy because a dream denied becomes a dream lost forever. It says:

I always wanted a red balloon.
It only cost a dime.
But Ma said, “No!
Money’s not to waste.
Besides we don’t have time.

I never did have another chance,
That was my only fair.
So many yellow and blue and white
And green balloons were there.

But, Oh I wanted a red balloon.
I hoped my Ma would say,
“Well, maybe we could afford just one,
To celebrate this day.”

Long years have passed, and I’ve got the cash.
I‘ve got a lot of time.
And there’s no one here who’s telling me
How I must spend my dime.

I’m sure they’re still selling red balloons,
But yet, you know somehow,
A spark has died deep inside of me,
And I don’t want one now!
—Adapted from Jill Spargur by Maralene Wesner

Solomon said, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecc. 3:1).

There is a time to make a decision, and if that time is allowed to pass, it does not return. There is a law of life that says, “If a thing is not said or done or experienced in its own moment, that exact moment is never repeated.”

Life is forever saying to us: “Now is the time.” So, “What are you waiting for?”

Every new year reminds us that it’s later than ever before; so, What are we waiting for? If there’s a resolution you need to express; If there’s a habit you need to break; If there’s a pattern you need to change; If there’s a decision you need to make; Then as Paul said, “This is the acceptable time”; so What are you waiting for?

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Word Count 1400

This message is from an unpublished manuscript © copyrighted by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK. Please use it in any way you think appropriate. The only thing we ask is that you give credit for original material in published works.

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Miles E. Wesner