The Wisdom of Beginning Now
There are plenty of ways to waste time. Sometimes we spend so much time writing a to-do list that we run out of time to do anything on it.
But perhaps one of the greatest wastes of time is the gap between knowing what we should do and actually doing it. We intend. We consider. We analyse. We plan. We postpone. Sometimes we wait so long for the right moment that the moment passes us by.
There is an old saying: ‘The best time to plant a tree was twenty-five years ago. The second-best time is today.’
Had we planted a tree twenty-five years ago, today its roots might be deep, its trunk strong and its branches wide. Birds might nest in it, children might climb it and others might enjoy its shade.
But suppose we didn’t plant it. We spend the next twenty-five years regretting the previous twenty-five?
No. We plant the tree today.
We cannot go back and plant yesterday’s tree, but we can plant tomorrow’s tree today. The past may explain why there is no tree; it doesn’t prevent us planting one now. Yesterday is a place of learning, not a place of living.
Paul writes, ‘Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal’ (Philippians 3:13-14 NIV).
We can learn from yesterday without living in it. There is little point regretting the time we have wasted if we then waste more time regretting it. At some point, ‘If only . . .’ must become ‘From now on . . .’
The Danger of Someday
One of the most deceptive words in our vocabulary is someday. Someday we’ll begin. Someday we’ll make the call. Someday we’ll apologise. Someday we’ll get fit. Someday we’ll pray more. Someday we’ll act on what God has placed in our hearts.
There is just one problem: someday isn’t on the calendar.
Benjamin Franklin observed, ‘You may delay, but time will not.’
Scripture says, ‘Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest’ (Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT).
Prayer is essential. Preparation is wise. Good counsel matters. But there comes a moment when preparation must become participation.
Planning can take us to the starting line; it cannot cross it for us. Good intentions are seeds left in the packet. We cannot harvest what we never plant.
Start With What We Have
We often delay because we focus on what we lack. Not enough time. Not enough money. Not enough experience. Not enough confidence.
Yet throughout Scripture, God repeatedly begins with what people have, not what they wish they had. Moses had a staff. David had a sling. A widow had a little oil. A boy had five loaves and two fish.
God asked Moses, ‘What is that in your hand?’ (Exodus 4:2 NLT). Perhaps God asks us the same question. What is already in our hands? A gift? An idea? An opportunity? A conversation? A small beginning?
Zechariah says, ‘Do not despise these small beginnings’ (Zechariah 4:10 NLT). An oak begins with an acorn. A book begins with a sentence. A journey begins with a step. A friendship begins with a conversation. A life of obedience begins with a yes.
We simply have to begin faithfully. Small beginnings surrendered to God can have surprisingly big endings.
Planting for Someone Else
There is an old story about an elderly man planting a fruit tree. A friend said, ‘Surely you realise you might not live long enough to eat its fruit?’ The old man replied, ‘All my life I have eaten fruit from trees I did not plant. I am planting this one for those who come after me.’
That is a beautiful picture of life. Not everything we begin is for ourselves. Some trees we plant are for our children. Some are for our grandchildren. Some are for people whose names we will never know.
A prayer prayed today may bless someone years from now. A word of encouragement may change the direction of a life. An act of generosity may begin a chain of kindness we never see completed. Someone we introduce to Jesus may eventually introduce many more to him.
We may never sit beneath every tree we plant. But someone will. Legacy is not simply what we leave behind; it is what we set in motion.
Start Again
Sometimes we did begin and things went wrong. We failed. We stumbled. We became discouraged.
Scripture says, ‘The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again’ (Proverbs 24:16 NLT).
Peter denied Jesus three times yet Jesus restored him, recommissioned him and entrusted him with a future. Peter’s failure was real, but it wasn’t final.
Failure can be a chapter without becoming the conclusion. Grace doesn’t merely forgive where we have been; grace opens the door to where we can go. Sometimes faith means starting. Sometimes faith means starting again.
Today
James reminds us, ‘Your life is like the morning fog – it’s here a little while, then it’s gone’ (James 4:14 NLT).
That isn’t gloomy. It’s clarifying. Life is precious because life is limited. So perhaps the question is not, ‘What might we do someday?’ It is, ‘What is God inviting us to begin today?’
Christianity is the great message of a new beginning. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our past can be forgiven, our present transformed and our future filled with hope.
God’s grace means our history does not have to imprison our destiny. So we pray. We prepare. We seek wisdom. And then we begin.
Yesterday’s delay need not become today’s excuse. A good intention only becomes fruitful when it becomes an action.
We cannot change what we failed to plant yesterday, but we can influence what grows tomorrow. And perhaps twenty-five years from now, others will enjoy the fruit and sit beneath the shade of something that exists because today we decided to plant.
The best time to plant the tree may have been twenty-five years ago. The second-best time is today. So let’s spend less time admiring the seed and let’s plant the tree.
J.John
