Matthew 21:28-32 - Delayed Obedience

"God helps those who help themselves." 

If you always thought that cliché is from the Bible, I hate to disappoint you--it's not found there. Another, lesser known cliché tries to teach us to respond immediately to God's voice:

"Delayed obedience is disobedience." 

It's catchy, there's a cadence to it... but it's not in the Bible, either. In fact, listen to this parable that Jesus told to the religious hypocrites of his day:

28 “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. 30 Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. 31 “Which of the two obeyed his father?” They replied, “The first.” Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. 32 For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.” (Matthew 21:28–3, New Living Translation, 2015)

Of course God wants us to respond immediately to Him. When we've delayed to follow God because we're running down some rabbit trail, He urges us to change our mind, change our direction, and go in His direction. 

"Better late than never" isn't a Bible verse either, but I think that cliché applies here. Delayed obedience is better than empty promises of obedience.

Lord, we'd like to say that we always listen to you the first time, but we don't. We thank You for being longsuffering--for waiting for us to respond to Your unfailing love. But we don't want to presume on Your patience. Give us hearts quick to respond to You.  Amen.