My kitchen was a loud, chaotic mess with my four girls running around when God dropped a thought into my head, “call Rachelle.”  The command from the Lord was obvious and actually very loud considering the activity going on around me.  But I pushed the thought aside telling myself I would call later- perhaps tomorrow.  I had weeks then months of the nagging instruction from the Lord, “call Rachelle.” 

Everyday there was a different reason to say “no.” The house was too dirty, the girls were too loud, my to-do list was far too long to stop and make a phone call to visit with my close friend 1900 miles away.  Then one terrible day, I got the call that at 33 years old, Rachelle was gone.  She had lost her battle with cancer, and I had missed dozens of opportunities to call and encourage her or pray with her or be a shoulder for her to cry on.  It was too late to obey, and no amount of crying or asking for forgiveness from God could change that.

My disobedience in that situation is a huge regret which can never be undone.  I waited until it was too late to obey. 

But it’s not always too late to obey.  While the parenting phrase, “slow obedience is no obedience” may be true in some situations, “better late than never” can be a redeeming phrase for us all.    

There are two very specific things that God has asked me to do months ago, and today I am making a commitment that I will do what He asks.  I will not wait until it is too late to obey.  Obedience is actually the follow through that demonstrates our love and commitment to Jesus.  We can talk all day about loving God, but if we don’t follow through with actions, do we really love Him?  Jesus himself says in John 14:15,   “All who love me will do what I say. . .”  It is not enough to say we love God, we must do what he says.   I have been saying I love God without doing some very specific things that he has asked me to do.  Today that procrastination is over.  I am excited to see what obedience to God will do for my heart and my life. 

But how about you?  Are there things that God has asked you to do that you are putting off until tomorrow?  Are there things you are engaged in that you know God wants you to lay down but you just don’t even know how you’ll do it?   Here’s the moving truth, Jesus is not asking us to obey in our own strength.  The very next verses in John 14 say, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.  He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”

As believers, we must obey, but we don’t have to do it alone. We have the Holy Spirit, and we have each other. I’m praying that in this very pivotal time in history that I will obey and that you will obey. I’m praying that each of us will be in the written Word and be listening to the Holy Spirit who will lead us—all of us—into all truth.