It's Time (Friday Devotional)

 

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

- Galatians 6:9

Every morning lately, I’ve awakened to a tough task. After months of sloth, I’m trying to get back into a routine of going for an early morning run to start the day—waking up, putting my shoes on, and getting out the door before 5:00 AM.

Unfortunately, I’m not off to a great start; I’m making excuses more often than I’m breaking a sweat. A few mornings I’ve lazily moseyed around the house until deciding it’s too late to run. More often, I’ve said it’s too early—I’ll go later, I say, and then later never comes. I just can’t seem to find the right time to do what needs to be done.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said, “The time is always right to do what is right”—and make no mistake, he was talking about matters far weightier than whether to exercise in the morning. Despite his sage wisdom, we often find excuses for why our principles need to be put on standby, why the needs of the moment justify immoral means. Sometimes doing good seems like something reserved for children’s books, a high ideal that just doesn’t work in the real world.

But long before Dr. King, the apostle Paul was commanding followers of Jesus to be do-gooders in any and all circumstances, at any and all times. Drawing upon both the words and the deeds of Christ, Paul encourages us to never grow tired of doing the right thing, to never be so burdened by the demands of righteousness that we abandon it. Instead he calls us to find our courage in the cross of Christ, to recognize that even when the way is narrow, it leads to the Lord.

The time is always right to do what’s right—so never let life’s complexities or the world’s excuses stand in the way of doing what God has called you to do.