“Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow” — when you now have it with you.”
(Prov 3:27-28NIV)
One of the lessons of the bible that we often miss is the one Solomon speaks of in the bible text above, which is that we are not to postpone or defer to the future anything good we have the power to do for others or for ourselves now. For example, we read in the bible that Abraham shared his possessions among Isaac and his other children, when he was still alive, and told everybody which way to go. He did not write down any will about how his possessions were to be handled after his death. Instead, he shared them himself when he was still alive and well and had the power to do so. So, after his death, nobody fought nobody over anything, for everybody already knew how their father and owner of the things passed on to them distributed his things. (Cf. Gen 25:1-6)
Also, we read in the bible that David saw to it that his son, Solomon, was anointed king and made to sit on the royal throne in his stead before he died. He did this to make sure nobody was in doubt about whom he had chosen by the Spirit of God to lead the nation in the will of God after his death. And he did this when it was still in his power to do so. (Cf. 1Kings 1)
Unfortunately, many parents, who are well familiar these bible accounts, will not follow suit in passing on their own possessions to their children. They will not give out whatever they want to give out to the individuals in their lives, when it is in their power to do so and when they can see how everybody will respond and deal with it. Instead, it is either they put their decisions about this in a will, a will that may never be found or that may be twisted, or they don’t even decide at all. So, when they die, they leave the family, especially if it is a family of ungodly and irresponsible people, more divided and upset than it was during their life-time. And that is what we get when we fail to embrace the wisdom of the Scriptures.
So then, even when it does not concern family matters like the ones I mentioned above, it is not wise for us postpone whatever good and righteous thing we can do for ourselves or others or whatever we can set right where we are, when it is in our power at the moment to do it. That is because there is no measure of authority or power that we have in this world, however great it may be, that will stay with us permanently. At some point it will be taken away from us, whether through a change of circumstances or through death. And we cannot tell how soon or late this will be. Will it, then, be good for us to be filled with regrets for failing to better our lives and those of others around us or for failing to destroy or prevent some evil in our society or failing to save a life, when it was in our power to do so? I tell you such regrets are not interesting to live it.
Now I know there are times that we reason that if we do certain things for some people at the very moment they are asking for our help, they may assume that it is convenient for us, when it is actually not convenient for us. So, we push them around for a while in order for them to see that we too are not having it easy as are trying to help them. But what we often don’t realise is that things may get worse for them, while we are pushing them around, or we may totally lose the opportunity to make a difference in their lives or situations.
So, as the wisdom of God is instructing us, let us discipline ourselves not to postpone whatever good (not evil) we can do at the moment for ourselves or others, when it is in our power to do so and when we know that doing so will not make worse an already bad situation. And may your heart always be strengthened not to be insensitive or slothful, when God requires you to use the position He has placed you in life to do righteousness.
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By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 16, 2020 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 18