A Sad Example of Procrastination

A man told me the following story, which I have never forgotten. “When I left home my mother gave me this text: “Seek first the kingdom of God.” But I paid no heed to it. I said when I got settled in life, and my ambition to get money was gratified, it would be time enough then to seek the kingdom of God. I went from one village to another and got nothing to do. When Sunday came, I went into a village church, and what was my surprise to hear the minister give out this text, “Seek first the kingdom of God.”

The text went to toe bottom of my heart I thought that it was only my mother’s prayers following me, or that some one must have written to the minister about me. I felt very uncomfortable, and when the meeting was over, I could not get the sermon out of my mind. I went away from that town, and at the end of a week went into another church, and heard the minister give out toe same text, “Seek first the kingdom of God.”

I felt sure this time it was the prayers of my mother, but I said calmly and deliberately, “No, I must first get wealthy.” I went on, and did not go into a church for a few months, but the first place of worship I went into, a third minister preached a sermon from the same text.

I tried to drown, to stifle my feelings; tried to get the sermon out of my mind, and resolved that I would keep away from church altogether, and for a few years did keep out of God’s house. My mother died, and that text she had given me kept coming up in my mind, and I said I will try to become a Christian. I could not; no sermon ever touches me; “my heart is as hard as a stone.”

I heard that story when I was a boy, and after I got to be a man, I went back home, and asked my mother what had become of the man who told it. “Didn’t I write to you about him?” she asked. “They have taken him to an insane asylum, and to every one who goes there, he points upward with his finger and says, “Seek first the kingdom of God.”

There, in the asylum, was that man with his eyes dull with the loss of reason, but the text had sunk into his soul—it had burned down deep.—MOODY.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Fighting for the Truth and Love

John MacArthur

In a world where truth is under attack, few rise to defend it. But let's remember that our apathy won't be an excuse before Christ. In Revelation, we see how He rebuked the churches that tolerated falsehood. Let's do the same, bravely defend the truth.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Holy Hatred of Sin

John MacArthur

We desperately need to recover a holy hatred of sin. We need to do this corporately as a church, but we also need to do it individually as believers. Sin is surely not a pleasant subject to study or preach on, but it is necessary.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Calm And Quiet

David Jeremiah

According to medical researchers at Duke University, there is a “vicious cycle” involving insomnia, anxiety, and depression. It’s sort of a “which came first: the chicken or the egg?” scenario.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

The Rope of Prayer

David Jeremiah

Daniel was a man who communicated with heaven. He prayed fervently, consistently, and for the will of God. He knew nothing of praying only before meals, at bedtime, and when he really needed God’s help.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

The Initiative Against Depression

Oswald Chambers

A human being is capable of depression, otherwise there would be no capacity for exaltation. There are things that are calculated to depress, things that are of the nature of death; and in taking an estimate of yourself, always take into account the capacity for depression.