He who hesitates...

Many years ago I was sitting at my aunt's house for a family gathering. I was talking with my uncle, dad, and anyone else around. As we were talking the conversation turned to driving and things that happened while you were driving. I joked about my great-grandmother and said that to her "Green means go. Red means stop. Yellow means try to beat the red light." We talked about it for a few minutes and my uncle said something that has always stuck with me. It was the first time I ever remembered someone saying to me "He who hesitates is lost."

Now this old adage is believed to be a misquotation of a phrase from the Joseph Addison play Cato from 1712. The idea behind the phrase is that "a person who spends too much time deliberating about what to do loses the chance to act altogether." Even though the idea of the phrase is much older than 300 years, the truth behind the phrase is never-changing. Whether we hesitate to go through a light on yellow, ask someone out on a date, or make a career change, opportunities are gone in the blink of an eye. As the adage would put it, they're lost. Lost to time, circumstances, and the inevitable change of life.

For those who are believers in Christ, they've heard the horror stories of those who hesitated too long in making a decision to follow Christ and now are lost for eternity. It's a horrible and sickening feeling to know that someone we've known, someone we've loved, someone who loved us, hesitated and is now lost. Eternally separated from a loving God and the peace and joy He offers. But before we make ourselves sick over it, we have to remember that the choice was up to them. I'm not saying that to be callous or hard-hearted. It is the reality of the situation. I can no more make a decision for Christ for someone else than they can for me. I'm saddened at the thought of any who choose to reject Christ in this life and will face the torments of hell because of that decision. But again, it is their decision to accept or reject Christ.

Is there possibly anything worse than thinking about those that have rejected Christ and are now lost for eternity? Yes. Yes there is. What is worse is the fact that some of those who are lost for eternity never heard the Gospel message shared by those who had the message. Its like standing on the shore holding a life preserver while watching a person drown right before your eyes. Believers have the hope of life, the one thing that will rescue a person from certain death, and too often we watch the person slip under the water for the final time. 

God tells us in His Word "For he says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2, NIV). There is no day like today for making a decision to follow Christ. There is no day like today for telling someone about Christ. If we hesitate to share the Gospel people will be lost.

I hope you'll be encouraged by today's post to speak boldly about the truth of the Gospel with those who do not know Christ. If you are reading this today and you don't have a relationship with God through Christ and you want to learn more check out this link or this link and then email me at pastornick@northcatawbabaptist.com. I'll be glad to help you start a relationship with God.


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