Almost is Not Good Enough

Have you ever had one of those mornings when nothing seems to go right? I had one recently. I couldn’t find anything to wear. I couldn’t get my hair to do right. I couldn’t find the children’s shoes. I couldn’t find the children’s backpacks for school.

When we finally got in the car and left the house for school and work, we were running late. I know many of you can relate to this story so far. I managed to get one child off to school just in the nick of time.

However, when I arrived at my other daughter’s school, I got caught by a red light right in front of the school. By the time the light turned green and I pulled into the drop-off lane, the teachers had just walked inside the school and shut the gate. I immediately started to blame the red light for our tardiness.

I had to park the car, get my daughter out, and go through the front office. I thought I could just quickly send her down the hallway to her classroom. But, the front office personnel asked me to sign her in on the tardy sheet.

I have to admit, I was a little frustrated that I had to sign my daughter in tardy when we were only a couple of minutes late. As I was signing the tardy sheet, the school secretary said, “Well, you were almost on time!” Suddenly, I felt that God was trying to teach me a lesson.

I had expected sympathy because we were only a couple of minutes late. Nonetheless, according to the school’s standards, a couple of minutes late meant that my daughter was tardy.

To tell the truth, if I had gotten out of bed earlier, and had gathered everything together we needed for school the night before, we would have been on time. No one was to blame for our tardiness but me. Almost on time is late!

In some situations, “almost” can be a good thing. For example, if you almost had a car accident, or you almost had a heart attack, or you almost said something you shouldn’t have, then you have a reason to rejoice. However, in other situations, “almost” just doesn’t cut it.

What if when a couple was getting married the bride said, “I almost do”? What if you called your employer and said, “I almost came to work today”? What if your banker said, “I almost deposited your money into your account”?

These things seem humorous because we know that in these situations, “almost” would just not be good enough. So it goes with our relationship with God. When we get to judgment day, will you say, “I almost went to church”? Will you say, “I almost forgave my neighbor”?

Will you say, “I almost did what God called me to do”? Will you say, “I almost gave my life to the Lord”? My friend, when it comes to our responsibilities as a Christian, “almost” is just not good enough!