The Most Dangerous Word

The Most Dangerous Word

Do some research on success, self-help, or personal development and you will quickly realize that many people—from maverick millionaires to professional counselors— agree that the mindset of “someday” is dangerous. It is one of the easiest justifications for procrastinating our efforts of reaching the desired goal. Whether it’s your career, finance, fitness, or family, the “someday” mindset has killed more dreams than any other obstacle. The same is true for spiritual matters.

We often bind ourselves in arbitrary timeframes for personal growth. “Right now, I’m just too busy with my job to serve at church.” “I would be more involved, but my kids are too young.” “After school gets out, I will focus more on my spirituality.” “When I graduate, I’ll have more time to worry about my faith.” These kinds of justifications often bounce around our heads when we feel that tinge of guilt about the state of our faith. We push God into the void that is “someday”—an undefined and arbitrary point of time in the future. What many fail to realize until too late is that life never becomes less busy. Middle school students think that their life is complicated, and a high school student would see that and laugh. You think college is hard until you actually graduate and go out into the field, and all of a sudden you are bombarded with bills, taxes, and more. As we grow older, the “someday” that seemed like a near-future often gets pushed back further and further into…never.

Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes, tells us that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecc. 3:1) and that it is okay to enjoy the fruits of our labors and be happy in this life (Ecc. 3:12-13). It is not sinful for us to be concerned about the different things of this life that are before us. However, at the end of the day, the conclusion of Solomon in Ecclesiastes is that all of these things “under the sun” are vanity. It all boils down to the eternal purpose of man—“to fear God and keep his commandments” (Ecc. 12:13). This is the duty of mankind. Let us not push our purpose into the arbitrary “someday,” but no matter what the season push ourselves to fulfill the purpose God has given us since creation.

 

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