It was Sunday afternoon, and as usual a gospel meeting was scheduled at the meeting room for 7:30 p.m. I was in Dickson Village, Saint Vincent, West Indies, and, as was the habit of my Christian friend, we began to visit throughout the community, stopping at certain homes, passing out gospel literature and inviting folks to attend the preaching that evening.
I quickly realized that many, if not most, or even all, had been invited on previous occasions. Some had come, some had not! Either way, the excuses were prevalent. Some were tired; some had another engagement; some had to baby-sit, cook dinner, help family, get ready for tomorrow, and on and on it went. One man even said he must attend a funeral; I thought, Thankfully not his own. Some halfheartedly said they would try to make it.
My friend seemed undaunted by all this and quietly urged on his fellow-villagers the need of not only coming to the gospel meeting, but, more importantly, coming to the Lord Jesus. I wondered if anyone would show up that night. Thankfully some came and listened to the message.
It is one thing to make excuses in this life, but to make excuses to the Saviour and to put off salvation will eventually have eternal consequences that are tragic and irreversible.