I woke up recently with full intention to work out. I got busy reading, doing stuff around the house, and then I realized I couldn’t afford the time to go on a run at that point. I had run out of time…no pun intended. My next thought was, I’ll run this afternoon, I’ll workout later. I have more time then, so that’s better. Then, I left the house and realized it was hot…and only getting hotter. We were quickly approaching the heat of the day when it is just miserable to be in it…unless you are in a pool or there is some reason you want to subject yourself to this heat and humidity…like you are doing some sort of detox sweating situation. No matter. I had a real thought that I would be able to and should run in the heat of the day. As time went on…I knew in my heart…I wasn’t going to actually work out. “Future Andrew” can deal with this…and he was going to opt out. I know him. It was in that moment that I realized, if I am going to work out, I need to do it early…or I’m probably not going to do it. And if I’m not going to do it early, I just have to suck it up and deal with the heat. Better late than never.
We do this kind of stuff all the time. We want to wait until timing is perfect, until everything is in place. We keep pushing the things we need to do for a future version of ourself to deal with. I was talking to someone one time who said they were going to go to a financial planner…but they wanted to wait until they did the stuff they wanted to do first that they knew the financial planner would advise against and then get more of their finances in order and then see the planner. There are a lot of things in life that we tend to say, “I’ll do that later” or “When the situation is better” or “When everything is just right”. Now, there are certainly some things that have better times than other (like working out when it’s cooler) but there are other things that if you wait for the perfect time, it is literally never going to happen. Sure, certain times are better to do certain things, but when it comes to our faith, if you wait until it the perfect time to trust in Jesus, to follow after him, there is a good chance you will only turn to him when everything falls a part. Instead of thinking, future me can get serious about my faith, or when I beat this habit or struggle then I will trust in Jesus, or when I get to the end of this life, that will be when I turn to him…what if we did it now? No matter if it is the cool of the morning or the heat of the day. No matter if your life is a mess or if you feel like everything is in order. See, we have an opportunity, we can choose to trust in him and follow after him at any moment…so why wait? It doesn’t mean you have it figured out, it doesn’t mean it is perfect or flawless. There is an old proverb that says, the best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago, the next best time is today. The same is true in our faith, the best time to follow after our Lord is as soon as you can, and the next best time is today. Today, choose to follow after the one who loved you before you knew him, knew you before you were born, and watches over you.
I heard a fitness guy say one time, the best workout is the one you did. Maybe it wasn’t great and didn’t last long. Maybe you felt like a mess. But you took that step, and showed up and did it.
Show up to meet Jesus. Spend a few moments in prayer and in the scriptures. Even if it isn’t great. Maybe it isn’t long. Maybe your heart and mind and life feel like a mess. But you took that step to meet him, to follow after him, and you showed up…and so will he.
I invite you to show up this Sunday. Even if it feels like the heat of the day, even if it feels like you are a mess. I’m not worried about that…and neither is Jesus. We’re just happy to see you. See you at The Chapel at 10am in person or online.