Today is Be Late for Something Day.

Name the person in your life who is late for everything. Come on. We all know at least one person for whom we seem to spend hours waiting. Maybe it’s even you! Today was made especially for those people. Be Late for Something Day gives all of us—latecomers and early birds alike—permission to be late.

Now there are times when you don’t mind being late—like when there’s a family get-together of your least favorite relatives or the dentist appointment that you’ve been dreading. You don’t mind being late for dinner when the menu includes brussel sprouts and liver. But you sure don’t want to be late for dessert or going to your friend’s house when you are going to try out the latest video game. And you probably don’t want to be late for school—because too many tardies may land you in the principal’s office!

Definitely you don’t want to be late for God. Sometimes, especially when it comes to God, we feel we have all the time in the world. You think, “I’ll start having a daily quiet time next month. I’m really busy with __________ (fill in the blank) right now.” Or “I’ll start a prayer journal next week when school settles down.” Or even, “I don’t have to start getting serious about God right now. I’m young! I’ll think about him later.”

It’s true that right now is an exciting time for you. Many opportunities are available to you. It seems as if you have your whole life ahead of you. There’s plenty of time. But now is the time to begin those habits and form that relationship with God while you are young, energetic, and open. Later may be just that—too late.

As Jeremiah says, “Give glory to the Lord your God before it is too late.”

Give glory to the Lord your God before it is too late. Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you, causing you to stumble and fall on the dark mountains. For then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness (Jeremiah 13:16).

To Do

Count the times you are late for something today or times you have to wait for other people because they are late.

Also on this day

1698—Russian Czar Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards.

1836—Sam Houston was elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas.

1930—Charles Creighton and James Hagis completed the drive from New York City to Los Angeles and back to New York City—all in reverse gear. The trip took 42 days in their 1929 Ford Model A.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.