If Only

If Only

If only I made just a little bit more.
If only it cost just a little bit less.
If only I had just a little more time.
If only my house wasn’t quite such a mess.
I’d share with the needy. I know I’d give more!
I’d open my home with more zeal than before.
“If only. If only! If only…” I say.
“If only my life had worked out in that way.”
If only I knew those I see every day.
If only my friendships had come with rapport.
If only I knew all the right words to say.
If only I had ten years’ study (or more).
I’d teach the whole Gospel. I’d speak about God.
I’d talk about Jesus and wouldn’t feel odd.
“If only. If only! If only…” I say.
“If only my life had worked out in that way.”
“If only!” “If only!?” Is that all I’ve got?
“If only” will easily serve as a crutch.
“If only” won’t help me to serve or to grow.
“If only” rings empty. It won’t do me much!
It won’t help me study. It won’t help me pray.
It won’t help tomorrow, nor does it today.
If only I’d give up “if only” and say,
“Today, I will act and no longer delay!”

We have all said it. We have all heard it. Something in our lives is deficient. Some
circumstance is less than ideal. Some resource is too scarce. Some action is too
difficult. Some relationship is too awkward. “I would love to, if only…”
I do not deny that we all have limits. No one can do everything all the time
without missing any opportunities. But ironically, when we focus on our
limitations, we often miss our opportunities! If we wait until our budget is “just
so” and the circumstance is “just right” and our understanding of Scripture is
“finally there” (and the list could keep going), we will never take action.
Scripture offers many exhortations to “DO,” even if what we are able to do is
limited (e.g. Matthew 7:24-27; James 1:22-25; 2:14-17; Colossians 3:17-24). For
today, I encourage you to consider 1 John 3:16-18:
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down
our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his
brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in
him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
Indeed, loving in word and talk is easy. It ultimately requires nothing of us.
Sometimes, we love in word and talk because we really do intend to follow
through someday when circumstances are better, when we feel equipped, when
life slows down, or when it’s more convenient. After all, “if only” life was a little
bit different, we would follow through!
God’s call to Christians, however, is not just to have good intentions, but to live

out good actions as well. When we lay aside the “if only” and serve from the heart,
it is a demonstration of God’s love abiding in us. This means that no matter how
large or small the task at hand, the opportunity we have is indeed great!
- Noah Diestelkamp

______

Too Late !

Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist and historian, married his secretary, and she
continued to work with him in the production of his prolific writings. She
became ill with cancer and was confined for some time before her death. Carlyle
loved her dearly, but he was so absorbed in his work that he did not take time to
be with her for very long.
The day of her funeral was a rainy day. After the service, Carlyle went home
badly shaken, realizing he had not spent enough time with her during her illness.
He went to her room and sat down next to her bed. There he found her diary and
began leafing through it. His attention was caught by one page on which she had
written: “Yesterday he spent an hour with me, and it was like being in heaven; I
love him so.”
He turned a few more pages, and it nearly broke his heart when he read: “I
listened all day to hear his steps in the hall, but now it is late, and I guess he won’t
come today.” He read a few more pages, then threw the book down and rushed
back to the cemetery through the rain.
His friends found him face down in the mud on his wife’s grave. He was weeping
and saying over and over, “If I had only known, if I had only known.”
As we all know, Carlyle could not turn back the clock. Probably all of us can think
of things that deserve our time and attention, but which we have been putting off
until later when we are not “too busy.”
The apostle Paul twice admonishes us to “redeem the time.” Our lives are filled
with ways in which we should heed that admonition. Sooner than we expect our
time may be gone to:
share the gospel with someone we know who is not a Christian,
teach and train our children,
visit someone who is lonely or needs encouraging,
show someone how much we love them,
etc., etc.
Don’t wait until it’s too late !
(Selected and adapted)



Never substitute an excuse for an apology.

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