When You Know What to Do, Why Wait?

Ever ignored something important ?

Tomorrow, December 7, is the 77th anniversary of a tragic event that launched our country into World War II. We couldn’t prevent the Japanese from attacking, but we could’ve turned that day into a victory—if people had acted on what they knew.

On that morning, Private Joseph McDonald’s assignment was to watch the radar screens at Pearl Harbor. He had been awake since 5:30 a.m. the previous morning, and he was supposed to be relieved at 6:00 a.m. Nope. His replacement was eating breakfast. McDonald was still there at 7:20 a.m. when the call came in from the radar base at Opana. A whole lot of planes were headed for Pearl Harbor,

In the next room sat Lieutenant Kermit Tyler, a newbie on his second day of training. McDonald informed Tyler of the warning, but Tyler blew it off.

McDonald ran back to the radar room and called the Opana station. They verified their earlier message. “Hey, Mac, there is a heck of a big flight of planes coming in and the whole scope is covered!” He relayed the message to the lieutenant, but again, he dismissed it.

When a corporal at the radar station talked to Lieutenant Tyler, he was blunt: “Call somebody with authority, because we have 150 blips on our radar heading your way.” The Japanese attack was 90 minutes away, but the lieutenant failed to act on what he knew.

Over 2400 people died that day.

Ever ignored something important only to regret it later?

• That pain in your body
• A steadily growing deficit in your bank account
• The hours clicking away before your project is due

Many people are victims of their own procrastination, but for far too many people, it’s something worse. They give lip service to a matter’s importance, but they don’t consider it important enough to do anything about.

I’m no longer shaking my head at the way some people approach their health, finances, or workload. I’m referring to their relationship to God.

• People who can recite why we need salvation, the work of Christ, and the role of faith, but they never act on it themselves. They know about faith, but they never bother to exercise any.
• Believers who have placed their faith in Christ and know they should deepen their walk with Christ, but they never bother to do anything about it.

God’s abundant life awaits us, but it will not wait forever. I doubt anyone would disagree with that statement, but few treat that truth with urgency. If you know the way to life is in Christ, why wait? If you know the better life—the abundant life—is found living under the lordship of Christ, why wait?

“I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

Can we take care of it tomorrow? Maybe, maybe not. We eventually run out of tomorrows. Why wait on what is most important?