When I teach young kids I often ask them to wait until the end of the story to ask questions. This helps eliminate hopping down the proverbial rabbit trail. A while back I taught about the importance of responding to God’s Word when you first hear it and I shared a story about a young boy in Southeast Asia who was the first in his family to accept Jesus as his savior. He was quick to share his new faith with his father, but the response was always the same—not today, maybe later. After about the third time the father said this in the story, one of the kids in my class blurted out with great excitement “I know! I know! It’s like ‘Free beer tomorrow’, but tomorrow never comes!” Okay, stay with me on this one.
There was no sign of a rabbit or a trail, just a lot of necks swiveling, eyes popping and jaws dropping. And it got very quiet. Evidently there is a sign hanging somewhere in town promising free beer—but it’s always tomorrow—and the connection was made. Don’t keep saying tomorrow when, in reality, tomorrow never comes. Pretty good for someone who isn’t even old enough to buy beer in the first place. I wish more adults had the same insight.
The Bible has a lot to say about redeeming the time and not putting off until tomorrow what you should do today. A story that illustrates this is found in Mark 6:14-28. It’s the story of John the Baptist, but perhaps even more, the sad story of King Herod, the one who continued to put off until tomorrow what he knew he should do today. Verse 20 explains the dilemma faced by the King. He enjoyed listening to John and was moved by his life and his message, but at the same time the king was caught up in the enjoyment of the sinful life he was living. Through a tragic set of events, John’s life was ended—and the opportunities of tomorrow never came for King Herod. Isaiah 55:6 admonishes us to “Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.” As far as we know, King Herod missed his opportunity to give his life to the Lord and in the process, was an unwilling participant in the death of John. Tomorrow. I’ll think about what I need to do and I’ll do it tomorrow. And for him, tomorrow never came. Second Corinthians 6:2 tells us that “now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation.”
For those who have already stepped out in faith to acknowledge Jesus as the One who died for their sins, there is still the issue of waiting until tomorrow. We call it procrastination. The Bible is filled with verses describing how God wants His children to live: “Love your neighbor as yourself”—don’t wait until tomorrow to see if they have become more loveable. “Rejoice evermore”—start today, tomorrow may not be any better. “Set your mind on the things above”—the things that are on the earth will still be here tomorrow so you might as well do it now. Ephesians 5:15-16 admonishes us to “be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” Making the most of your time, not putting off until tomorrow what you know God wants you to do today.
And why is “today” so critical? Because tomorrow never comes.