The Devil's Trick of Delay

Who has fixed the limit of your life? Who has defined the deadline of your old age? Who is such a trustworthy guarantor to you of what is to come? Do you not see infants being snatched away, those in their prime being carried off? Life has no single deadline. Why do you wait for baptism to come to you as a gift of fever—when you will not be able to utter the saving words, and perhaps will not even be permitted to hear clearly, with the sickness dwelling in your very head? You will not be able to raise your hands to heaven, or stand up on your feet, or bend the knee in worship, or be taught usefully, or confess securely, or make your covenant with God, or renounce the enemy—perhaps not even to follow the initiation with understanding, yourself uncertain whether you have perceived the grace or are insensible to what is happening. And even if you do receive the grace with awareness, then you have the talent but you bring no work to it. Imitate the eunuch. He found the one who instructed him, and he did not despise the teaching. The rich man brought the poor man up onto his chariot—the dignified and exalted man brought up the ordinary and despised man. And when he was taught the gospel of the kingdom, he received the faith in his heart, but he did not postpone the seal of the Spirit. For when they came upon water, he said, 'Look, water!' The word came from overflowing joy: 'Look—the thing I was seeking! What prevents me from being baptized?' Where the will is ready, nothing prevents. For the one who calls is loving toward humanity, the minister is prepared, the grace is abundant. Let eagerness be present, and there will be no obstacle. There is one who prevents, one who blocks our roads to salvation—let us overcome him by understanding. He produces hesitation in us; let us rise up to the work. He deceives our hearts with empty promises; let us not be ignorant of his schemes. For does he not suggest that we commit sin today, and persuade us to store up righteousness for tomorrow? This is why the Lord, dismantling his wicked counsels, says, 'Today, if you hear my voice' (Psalm 94:7 (95:7)). That one says: 'Give today to me, and tomorrow to God.' The Lord cries out in answer: 'Today, hear my voice.' Understand the enemy: he does not dare to advise abandoning God altogether—he knows that is hard for Christians to hear—but he schemes against the undertaking with deceptive arts. He is clever at doing evil. He observes that we human beings live in the present, and every action is carried out in the present moment. So by stealing our today through his scheming, he leaves us the hopes of tomorrow. Then, when tomorrow comes, the wicked divider comes again, claiming today for himself and tomorrow for the Lord. And so, always snatching away the present through pleasure and attaching the future to our hopes, he secretly leads us astray from life. I once saw such cunning in a clever bird. Since her chicks were easy to catch because of their softness, she offered herself as ready prey, turning about in the hands of the hunters. She was neither easily caught by them, nor did she make them despair of the hunt. Instead, holding them with varied hopes by keeping them occupied with herself, she won her chicks the chance to escape—and then at last she herself was caught.