24 Apr
I’ll Do It! …Later
I don’t have what you’d call a “driven” personality. My motto is: Why put off until tomorrow what you can put off indefinitely? Over the years I have tested my dad’s patience many times with my token phrase: “I’ll do it later….” I thought I was getting by just fine with this approach to life until last year, during my second semester of college. That was a time when my dad would say: Justice is sweet.
A gentle shake brought my Thursday morning to an unexpected early beginning. Whipping the sleep from my eyes I looked to see my mother standing over my bed, “Daniel, you need to print off your final exam schedule.” Giving an annoyed shrug I muttered, “Ya I know, I’ll do it later,” and I went back to sleep. The day went on, and late that night my dad approached me (for the fifth time!), “Dan, do you have your exam scheduled figured out yet?” Finally the nagging got to me, and I quickly printed off my schedule and went on to bed.
Friday morning came and I was feeling good. Glancing at my exam schedule I saw that my first exam was at 9 a.m.
8:30: “Ah-ha! Thirty minutes early and the FIRST student here. Might as well do a bit of last minute studying.”
8:45: “Wow, my professor sure is going to be impressed with me! STILL the only one here!”
8:50: “I’m starting to get lonely, honestly, is it too hard to show up to a test a little early? Come on guys, learn to be responsible like me!”
8:55: “Ok…soooo…am I in the right classroom?”
9:01: “I’m in huge trouble…”
In absolute horror I pulled out the crumpled piece of paper with my exam outline messily scribbled on it:
ROST 2203 Final:
Classroom-U117
Time: 9 a.m.
Day: THURSDAY
The biggest consequence I had to face was not getting a big solid ‘F’ in that class. Nor was it the wasted tuition money. Both those seemed like a weekend in Disneyland compared to what I had to do next…tell my dad.
I think sometimes the “I’ll do it later” attitude costs us much more than just good grades. Has God ever asked you to do something, but you didn’t feel ready? Many times in my life I’ve felt Him telling me to witness to people, or to read my Bible more, or attend mid-week prayer service, but I’ve put it off, until later. After all, I fully intended to do those things … eventually. When I felt like doing it. But of course, too often by the time the “feeling” comes around, the opportunity is past.
Jesus told a parable about two sons. The father asked each to work in his vineyard. The first son said he would be glad to do it but he never got around to it. The second son said he wouldn’t do it, but he did (Matt. 21:28-31). The moral of the story? Talk is cheap. Good intentions are no substitute for obedience. God takes pleasure in His children who do God’s will.
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Filed in: Choices, Journey, Time
About the Author
Daniel Blackaby is a second year college student at Mount Royal College, in Calgary, AB. His biggest passions in life are music and literature. He plays guitar in a Christian rock band and also plays bass guitar, drums, and keyboard.
Apart from playing music, Daniel loves to listen to all types of music and has over 700 CDs on his iTunes. He admits he’s a huge nerd who loves to read and enjoys collecting classic literature. He loves to hang out and have a good time, but his primary goal is to try and live life to the fullest and glorify God in everything he does. You can contact him by email at boonster@telus.net.
Read more about Daniel here.
