Too Slow
When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see. Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. – Luke 24:23-27.
Being slow in life does have its penalties. During an Easter Egg hunt on Sunday, some of the younger children did not find as many eggs as the older children because they were slower (We had extra eggs to give to those children). Not only are the very young penalized for being too slow but also those who are older, as an 82-year-old woman in California found out. The light turned green and Mayvis Coyle began walking across the street with her cane. However, she was too slow and a motorcycle officer gave her a ticket for obstructing traffic.
Mayvis commenting on her situation says, “I think it’s completely outrageous. He treated me like a 6-year-old, like I don’t know what I’m doing.” One woman who uses an electric cart was also unable to cross the street in the 20 seconds allowed even though her speed was much faster. She was still too slow.
Spiritually, there are times when we can be too slow. The followers of Jesus had been with Jesus for some time and He had made it clear as to what was going to happen to Him. However, they were slow to believe and Jesus makes this clear to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” Even though Christ knew it would happen He must have still marveled at how long it took them to understand and believe. They had been so slow to believe!
What about you? Do you believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God came down from the glories of Heaven walking upon this earth being fully God and fully man and suffered in your place on the cross? If not, why not? You can be eternally too late in placing your trust and faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Some of the saddest words that I have heard people speak are the words, “I’m not ready yet.” Meaning they were not yet ready to receive Christ as their Savior. Sadly, I believe some of those people that I shared Christ with on a personal basis have gone out into eternity without Christ. They were too slow, eternally too slow to believe in Jesus.
Sometimes the slowness is because we, the Christians, have been too slow to share our faith with others. I personally have been too slow to share my faith on a personal basis with some that are now no longer walking upon this earth. Sadly, I have heard others speak of their own regret at being too slow in sharing their faith as well.
If you have never received Christ as your Savior, please know that you can be too slow, too late, and regret that slowness forever. If you know Jesus as your Savior, are you sharing your faith with others on a personal basis? If not, please do not wait too long – because you can be too slow and what an eternal tragedy that would be.
(On a spiritual basis, we can be too slow to believe in Jesus and we can also be much too slow in sharing our faith with others.)