Last Saturday, I decided my yard needed a bit of TLC, so I put on my work clothes and gloves and walked out into the front of the house. I don’t necessarily enjoy working in the yard, but I realize it’s necessary for curb appeal and keeping the neighbors happy. It’s also great exercise and it makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something.
I got quite a bit done and my yard is looking pretty good now. However, what I didn’t expect out of my busy Saturday is the poison ivy that showed up on my arm the next evening. I figured it wasn’t too bad so I took an antihistamine, put some cream on it and went to bed.
The next morning, I woke up with my arms and legs looking like something out of a horror movie with red, itchy whelps all over my skin. I realized then it wasn’t going to be an easy fix.
After talking to my coworkers about what I should do and learning about all the things that could potentially go wrong with poison ivy (thank you coworkers for sharing the worse-case scenarios with me), I decided to call my doctor for the remedy.
Had I not listened to what my body was telling me and the advice of my coworkers, I would have ended up with a much bigger problem. Maybe even spending some time in the emergency room.
Life is a bit like that sometimes. What might seem like a small problem can end up being a bigger issue if we let it go long enough.
Oftentimes, we should pay attention to those nagging thoughts swirling in our minds. It’s easy to disregard them, but it’s not always the best thing to do.
Like putting off reaching out to a friend that you know needs encouragement or joining a small group even though you think you don’t have the time.
I believe if we pay attention, God will make us aware of things we should do that are important and life-changing.
James has a much more direct way of saying this: “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it” (James 4:17).
Or as Ben Franklin said, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today” — you never know how much it will change your life or the lives of the people around you.
