If Tomorrow Were the Last Day?

Most procrastinators embrace the motto, “Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?” Sometimes that works for me. Realizing how much concentration and energy a project will require, doing it another day can have certain appeal. At times like that, emptying the dishwasher or going out to the mailbox seems easier than enduring the necessary mental agony involved with the creative act of writing – or the frustration of taking on a tedious household chore.

However, procrastination isn’t the antidote for every pressing deadline, responsibility or obligation. Sooner or later, things need to get done. Postponing them only increases the stress once we finally get around to doing them. And some things just can’t wait.

Recently I read a brief article about a noted author who had written a book about the Apocalypse, the end of days. The interviewer closed by asking him, “If it were the end of days, what might you do?”

The author quipped, ”I would write faster. I would have to learn to touch-type.” But it was his next statement that grabbed my attention: “I’d want to play with my 3-year-old a lot more.”

Ponder that for a moment. If he knew the end of days was upon him, then he would feel inclined to play more with his young child. However, since he didn’t think the “end of days” was imminent, playing more often with the 3-year-old apparently didn’t seem as urgent. It could wait.

I see several problems with this perspective. First, for all we know, the end times could indeed arrive tomorrow. It will happen, according to 1 Corinthians 15:52, “in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye.”

Jesus also warned, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:42-44).

Second, even if the biblical end times doesn’t arrive for a long time yet, each of us face a personal “end of days” that might not be as remote as we suspect. Lots of people have left behind calendars filled with plans and commitments, totally unaware of how little time on earth remained for them.

Most important, 3-year-olds don’t stay 3 all that long, as I’ve discovered. Soon they’re 4, then 5, then 10, then teenagers. And suddenly, almost before we know it, they’re adults, married and starting families of their own. The time to take advantage of special moments is now, not tomorrow or next week. Especially with children.

This reminds me of the classic tune by Harry Chapin, “Cat’s in the Cradle.” In case you don’t know it or have forgotten, it’s about a father whose child “arrived just the other day…. But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay….” And in the meantime, the boy was growing up. The father missed pivotal moments, like first steps and first words, along with many potentially happy times together.

At the end of the song, the father ruefully realizes opportunities have been squandered, wonderful memories have never been created, and when he finally has time for his son, the son is too busy with his own life. The boy had always said, ”I’m gonna be like you, dad” – and he’s done just that.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my grandsons came to the house, wanting to “spend some time with Pop.” I had reading I’d intended to do, but remembered the day will come when he no longer feels a need to be with me. So I put my book down, and he and I played a game, threw a Frisbee and a ball around for a while, and pushed some toy cars down our driveway.

Earlier in my life, while pursuing a successful career, too often I was like the father that had planes to catch, bills to pay and deadlines to meet. Unique moments with our daughters that I wasn't around to experience couldn’t be saved for another day. I’m sure I missed even more than I realized. Hopefully, I’m doing a bit better with our grandkids.

Ephesians 5:16 talks about “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” That doesn’t mean time itself is somehow evil or bad. But it never stops moving forward. There’s no pause button on the clock or calendar. Time waits for no one. Just as a coupon usually has an expiration date, after which it can’t be redeemed, special moments in life also expire. 

So we better cash them in as soon as they present themselves, because tomorrow, even an hour or five minutes from now, it may be too late.

In one way or another, the end of days will come sooner than we might think. What is it, if it were the end of days, that you would want to do?

Being Ready for the Moment

When your time comes, whenever some special moment presents itself, will you be ready?

To be ready, it's wise to prepare for what lies in the future.

There’s a line in the animated film, “The Lion King,” in which the villain, Scar, sings to his cohorts, “Be prepared.” It has also been a favored motto in a more positive sense, with the Boy Scouts. More than 100 years ago, an English soldier coined the slogan, explaining it means, “you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your duty.”

This idea is hardly restricted to movie characters or those involved in scouting. It’s a mindset we see manifested nearly every day. Think of 2015, when three Americans aboard an express train to Paris – two of them soldiers – thwarted a terrorist’s attempt to kill dozens of passengers. Or the firefighter who just weeks ago caught an infant dropped down from a window in a burning building

For the sports-minded among us, Tua Tagovailoa serves as an excellent example. A highly regarded, but rarely used freshman quarterback from Hawaii, he was thrust into the spotlight in the second half of this year’s College Football Playoff Championship, leading Alabama to victory. Prior to kickoff, no one predicted him to emerge as star of the game.

Each one of the individuals above was ready for the moment when it came. In their own ways, all had trained their minds and bodies for such a time, even though they could not have envisioned when or how it would appear. For Tagovailoa, it also became a time to acknowledge that God had given him the opportunity, as well as the capacity to respond as needed.

We might not face such dramatic circumstances, but we never know when the moment will come when the Lord calls us to step up. I think of a friend, the general manager of a manufacturing company, who had an unusual, very unexpected opportunity to speak about his faith in Jesus to an important client visiting from another country.

The client had learned about an upcoming event at my friend’s church, which prompted him to ask a series of questions. Coming from a nation where most people follow a very different religion, he expressed sincere curiosity about Christianity and Jesus Christ. My friend responded by following the instructions of 1 Peter 3:15, “… Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

He had been ready for the moment, even without any advance indication that a meaningful spiritual discussion was in the offing.

Being in a state of readiness is important for anyone that follows Christ. I’m reminded of Jesus’ story in Matthew 25 about 10 virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five wisely had taken oil in jars for their lamps; the others did not. While the foolish ones left to retrieve the oil to keep their lamps lighted, the bridegroom arrived. Arriving late, the women weren’t permitted into the banquet hall.

Jesus’ moral to this story was, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour” (Matthew 25:13).

Then there’s the account of the Lord’s night in the garden of Gethsemane, where He agonized in prayer over the trial, scourging and crucifixion He was about to face. He had taken Peter, James and John with Him, admonishing them to, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

The Bible declares one day Christ will come back, and for that we also need to be ready. Both 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10 declare, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” We don’t want to be like the unwise women who were unprepared. Whether it’s the imminent return of Christ, or a spontaneous, unplanned moment when we can perform a very special act of service, will we be ready?