Today Isn't Too Late
By Pastor Justin Cooper
You can picture this without me even describing it. Backing the car out of the gravel driveway. Bag of leftovers your mama insisted you take. Engine running. Headlights bouncing off the pines.
And there she is. Standing in the doorway. Waving.
She'll stand there till the taillights disappear.
She'll stand there even when she can't see you anymore.
That's just what mamas do.
Pastor Cooper told it on Sunday — his mama still does it, and his grandmother did it before her. And one day, brother, that doorway is going to be empty.
Listen. I'm not telling you that to make you sad. I'm telling you that to make you do something about it.
You and I read in Exodus 20, "Honour thy father and thy mother." That's not a sentiment. That's a command. And it's the first commandment with a promise attached to it.
Here's the part that ought to rattle you.
"I love you's are too late and thank you's are too late."
— Pastor Justin Cooper
He was right. There is coming a day when you and I will see the body of our mother in a casket, and every word we didn't say is going to sit on our chest like a brick.
But you and I aren't there yet.
Today, "I love you" isn't too late.
Today, "thank you" isn't too late.
Today, "Mama, I was wrong" isn't too late.
When's the last time you told her?
I'll tell you what — there is somebody reading this who hasn't talked to mama in a month. Maybe longer. And there is somebody reading this who said something the last time you spoke that you would take back in a heartbeat if you could.
You can take it back today.
"I know you're busy. But you're not Calvary busy. You're not paying for the sins of the world busy." — Pastor Justin Cooper
If Jesus could pause in the middle of dying for the sins of the world to say "John, take care of her" — then you and I can pause in the middle of an ordinary Tuesday to call our mama.
Pick up the phone. Send the text. Drive over to the house.
That hymn we sang Sunday morning — "Once I was lost in sin's degradation, Jesus came down to bring me salvation, lifted me up from sorrow and shame, now I belong to Him" — friend, He did not stay distant from you when you needed Him most.
Don't you stay distant from the woman He used to give you life.
Gospel Light Baptist Church | Walkertown, NC
