Act Quickly
I articled as a lawyer in Alberta after law school back in 1996. Articling for me was a humbling yet beneficial year.
In those days, the older attorneys had a way of driving home a simple but profound lesson to us youngsters: respond promptly to clients, get back to other lawyers without unnecessary delay.
I can’t recall the exact words from the Calgary Bar Course we all had to take before the Bar exams, but the point landed firmly. I rarely left the office without returning every call that had come in that day. Even now, 28 years later, I still aim to reply the same day whenever I can, though I don’t always succeed.
It troubles me when I see fellow lawyers let things sit too long. It feels like a quiet betrayal of the trust placed in us. The Alberta Law Society’s Code of Conduct echoes this old-school expectation: be courteous, thorough, prompt with clients, answer what needs an answer in a reasonable time so no one is left in the lurch, or trust is eroded. The same courtesy extends to colleagues; prompt replies keep the wheels of justice and civility turning. Competence itself demands we carry out our work diligently, without needless delay.
In my view, this isn’t just a good professional habit, it’s something deeper, something Christian.
Jesus says it plainly in John 9:4: “We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us.”
There’s an urgency there, a call to make our days count while breath and the Holy Spirit still quicken us. It’s part of the Christian growth mindset: don’t dawdle when our King makes the path clear. Don’t become the black hole that swallows requests, leaving people waiting and eroding trust and corporate value.
Proverbs captures it sharply. “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them. If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say, ‘Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help you’” (Proverbs 3:27-28). And then there’s this sobering line: “A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things” (Proverbs 18:9). We suffer the lazy and the entitled far more than we ought.
Yes, careful thought is good. Patience is a godly virtue; impetuousness often leads to folly. Weigh things, pray them through. But once God makes a task plain, or once He shows you clearly that you ought not linger where you are, then go. Act. Move, for His sake, act quickly.
Look at the slow tragedy in 1 and 2 Kings: king after king did evil in the Lord’s sight. Even the better ones, like Joash in 2 Kings 12, pleased God in some ways, yet they often failed to root out the lingering evil decisively, or to follow Him with whole hearts. That quiet acquiescence with sin carried dire consequences, just as true now as it was then. The story of Israel and Judah stands as a cautionary tale, a reminder of what hesitation and half-measures can cost.
The same pattern appears in parts of church history, sadly, in some corners today. Just recently, the Church of England confirmed a woman as Archbishop of Canterbury, the first in its long history. This step, like the earlier ordinations of women to priestly and episcopal office, strikes at the heart of God’s revealed order for His Church. Pope John Paul II spoke clearly and definitively on this in his 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis: the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women, and this judgment is to be held by all the faithful. It rests on Christ’s own example in choosing only men as His Apostles, on unbroken apostolic tradition, and on the constant teaching of the Church. To depart from this is not mere change; it is to step outside the authority given by Christ Himself.
My quiet plea to myself, to you brothers reading this, is simple: take responsibility for your life. This very day, this week, make a bold turn away from evil, toward God alone. Don’t do what Joash did, half-heartedly pleasing the Lord while leaving grave wrongs in place. Call things what they are, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when the world calls it outdated. God never changes. His goodness and faithfulness are eternal.
The Bible, all of honest history, teaches us there is one true Church, God’s people, united under Christ. As Ephesians 4:4-6 puts it: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
God rules and reigns now. He is building His Kingdom through His people, miraculously, steadily. We are His people. He equips us with gifts to serve as members of His Body. When He assigns us tasks, delay runs counter to His way.
I don’t want to delay following Jesus. I long to be fully immersed in His true Church. I want nothing to do with places that twist Scripture, chase after trends that mock God’s clear design and His clear priorities. Any group that departs from God’s revealed pattern risks the same slow drift toward dysfunction that doomed ancient Israel and Judah.
Have nothing to do with false teachers, those who deny Christ as Messiah, cults, or empire-builders who turn God’s table into their own dynasty.
Yes, be good and gracious to all and be patient with those with only a mustard seed of faith. All of us are growing. There is hope beyond measure in our Lord and Savior, the Messiah: God is exposing evil, inside the Church and out. Many are waking up, seeing through the frauds, truth-twisters. Do your part. Carry out the tasks He’s given you, quickly, faithfully.
I’m convinced God is on the move, right here in Lynchburg, Virginia, and across the world. What an exciting day He has handed us! Thank You, Jesus, for the tasks You assign us. May we be faithful in carrying them out quickly.
If we make it about ourselves, we’re off course. If we chase money or hoard, we’re off course. If we imagine God needs us more than we need Him, we’re badly off course. Be bold. Reject the lies. Embrace Jesus Christ, His Church, His commission to follow Him obediently.
Amen.
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