I’ll Get to It Tomorrow

It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment . . . Hebrews 9:27

Thirtyish years ago, some summer friends taught me to play three chords on the guitar. I always wanted to learn more, so perhaps five years ago, my wife bought me a guitar for my birthday. I strummed it a few times and then promptly put in on its stand in the corner of our bedroom . . . where it’s sat for the last five years. Every time I see it, I have the same thought. I’ll learn to play that thing someday. My wife has suggested selling it, but no, I want to keep it because someday I’ll get around to it.

Procrastination is harmless when it comes to my guitar. I did the same thing though – with much graver consequences – in my addiction. In my drug use, I was miserable, knowing I was headed for disaster. But I also knew how difficult it was going to be to get sober. I wanted recovery tomorrow, but today, I just wanted to keep using. I’ll recover someday. Tomorrow maybe. Change never came though, and instead I just kept lying to myself until it was too late. I refused to find recovery and eventually, my judgment day arrived as calamity consumed my entire life.

Today’s passage warns us that there is a limit to our tomorrows. In it, the author of Hebrews said that we live, we die, and then we face judgment. It’s a sobering thought that we don’t contemplate much. Our here and now is all we know. Yes, we understand that we’ll die someday, but that day appears so far off. It seems as if we have endless tomorrows to get things done.

We want to get in shape and lose weight someday, but today, we just want to eat what we want. We long to get sober or quit smoking someday, but we’ve just got too many things going on right now. We intend to get right with God eventually, but that can wait until next Sunday. When tomorrow or next Sunday comes though, we put it off again. On one level, we want to get there, but deep down, we know we’re not going to do what it takes. So, we lie to ourselves, soothing our conscience. I’ll get to it someday.

If we want to get somewhere, we don’t get there by putting it off until tomorrow. We get there by seizing action today. We live. We die. We face judgment. There is an end to our tomorrows. If we truly want to get something done, we must start today. Otherwise, the life we want simply sits in the corner, just like my guitar.