Don't Put it Off
Weeding is not my favorite task. That, together with
the fact that something else always needed done, made it easy to put off.
In the meantime the weeds increased, the good plants
suffered, and I felt guilty every time I walked by the weedy beds. And when I
finally got to it the weeding was harder. That was not wise.
In contrast, Jesus modeled the wise approach. He knew that His ultimate mission involved
great suffering—being tortured and gruesomely killed for our sins. But He did
not procrastinate. Luke 9:51 tells
us that “as the time drew near … he resolutely turned his face towards
Jerusalem” (New Jerusalem Bible). Moreover, he took the direct route through
Samaria, even though that was not friendly territory. See Luke 9:52-56.
And once the time for His suffering was immediately upon Him, Jesus faced it
head on. “Enough!
The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.
Rise! Let us go!”
Mark 14:41-42.
See also John 18:4-11.
The wisdom of that approach is obvious (even if
executing it is hard). Putting a difficult task off gives us more time to worry
and feel guilty about it, making it more difficult on a psychological basis. And
it will likely make it physically harder to do once you get started. What could have been
done in few minutes with a scuffle hoe
takes an hour of hands on pulling. As the old saying goes, “a stich in time saves nine.”
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