Doing good when you can do it

“Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it’ – when you have it with you.”
-Proverbs 3:28

Not long ago, we had a terrible flood in the Houston area, and the parking lot in my apartment complex was filled with water. Almost every car parked there was a little flooded. It wasn’t bad, but everyone’s floorboards were pretty well soaked.

A lot of people helped one another out. A lot of people didn’t. Obviously, there was a difference in the results. For those who came together, pooled their resources, and helped one another out, they went to bed that night very, very tired, but with dry cars. The others didn’t seem to fare as well.

It seemed like a rather obvious solution. One person had a wet-dry vac, another an extension cord, another something else. Together, it worked out. It wouldn’t have worked out if everyone had said, “Eh! We’ll worry about it tomorrow.”

In certain times, the situation makes it clear that we need to help out now. On that day, we needed to work right away. It was obvious. Normally, it is not so clear.

My wife and I recently found some charities to support, but even though we had decided to help, I didn’t actually send the money for some time. I finally did. I don’t know if the delay made any difference at all, but I can imagine ways it could have.
It certainly didn’t help, waiting so long.

When we wait for tomorrow to help, we often find that tomorrows never end. We end up not helping at all, or not helping quickly enough. We all have big dreams of what we will do to help the world, but we just need a little more time, be a little more financially secure.

But that’s not love. Love sacrifices when a sacrifice is needed. Love gives up its last dollar for a friend, even when the chips in the vending machine looked pretty good. Love gives more than it can afford, and then tightens its belt a little to make up the difference.

Love does this because it thinks of others before itself. It puts the needs of others before its own desires.

We are able to love like this because we have a God who watches over us, who provides for us, who loves us so much more than we ever deserved. In love He sent His Son to us, to die in our place, and to rise again to lead us into life.

Frankly, I do not deserve that sort of love. I do not deserve His sacrifice. So why should it be difficult for me to sacrifice for others. Not tomorrow, but now, when it is needed.