Latin people are well known for a tendency to procrastinate and leave everything for tomorrow; but I am sure that not every one is like that and that people from other ethnic groups have the same shortcomings. Although “mañana” has already become an international word, we can find some synonyms in other languages, such as “take it easy” or “kein problem”.
As I am rereading the Book of Exodus, I come across the word “mañana” being used in such a situation that makes a very deep impression on me and gives me goose skin.
Moses is dealing with the Pharaoh of Egypt and asking him to let his people go. Two plagues have already fallen over the land, first the waters have turned into blood, and secondly everything was invaded and infected by frogs. Now the Pharaoh calls Moses and asks him to “entreat the Lord that he may take away the frogs,” (Exodus 8:8) and Moses asks him, “When shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people?” (Exodus 8:9) And here is the amazing answer, “Mañana – tomorrow.”
We know that we are living at the very end of the time of grace and that we, as bearers of the pure light of the gospel, will go through judgement first. The latter rain shall be poured upon every soul that has been walking with the Lord in total surrender of heart and will, so that he can be a herald of heaven and be prepared to go through the time of Jacob’s distress and the subsequent plagues and come out victorious. Being that this time is so near and will come quite suddenly, we need to be prepared every single moment.
Procrastinating in this very solemn time is very dangerous. Moses, the Liberator of God’s people at the time, could still entreat for the hard-hearted Pharaoh during the time of the plagues, but we know that when the plagues of Revelation fall, our High Priest will not be in the sanctuary any longer and the names of all those who shall be saved will have already been called in the heavenly courts.
We may be going about performing our daily tasks, quite unaware of what is going on in heaven. We may be playing with God’s grace, stubbornly committing our cherished sin, joking at every opportunity, taking sacred things lightly while our personal book is being brought before “the Ancient of days.” Then, the word “mañana” will remain frozen in our lips, in our hearts; the time of grace for us personally will be over. Have you ever thought about this? Do you think about it often or you prefer to ignore it?
Someone may say it is scary; I have seen Adventists, mostly among the youth, who do not want to hear and even get upset when one mentions that the Lord’s coming is near. Isn’t Jesus’ second coming the message embodied in the name of our denomination?
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied full of joy and hope, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.” (Jude 14). When Jesus was born in Bethlehem Ephrata, a group of angels came to the shepherds to announce the glorious event, but this time the whole of heaven will be emptied of its “ministering spirits”; there will be silence in the heavenly court and every eye shall see this wonderful spectacle, thousands of angels covering the sky, “the armies which were in heaven following Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” (Revelation 19:14) How exciting!
I am sure Isaiah and other prophets rejoiced in this thought and longed for this event. “Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence” (Is. 64:1) were the words with which Isaiah expressed the longing of his heart. And he even saw us, the last generation upon earth, lifting our heads and saying, full of joy, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord, we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:9). What a wonderful reality we shall very soon experience!
Please, whether you are Latin or Anglo-Saxon, procrastinate no more. Listen to the tender voice of the Holy Spirit inviting you to repentance, to separation from the world, to the surrendering of the flesh to the higher Intellect.
“The impressions of the Holy Spirit if disregarded today, will not be as strong tomorrow. The heart becomes less impressible, and lapses into a perilous unconsciousness of the shortness of life, and of the great eternity beyond. Our condemnation in the judgment will not result from the fact that we have been in error, but from the fact that we have neglected heaven-sent opportunities for learning what is truth.” (DA, p. 489)
We are usually very proud of knowing this wonderful truth, which is a real gift from heaven. How often do we tell one another how we came to the truth? Some have even the privilege of having being born in the truth! Maybe we should review and reform our way of expressing ourselves. The truth is not a theory; it is not a dogma; the truth is Jesus Christ, our Lord. He left this earth, but sent the Comforter to convince us of sin, righteousness and judgment. In other words, to show us who we really are, that there is no way we can justify ourselves and that we cannot stand before the heavenly court without an Advocate. This news takes all our joy away and we may walk for months, like Nehemiah, with a sad countenance, until we really come to the Truth. Then everything changes into peace, great joy and real happiness.
The Holy Spirit is called “Paraklitos” in Greek, and the term comes from the noun “paraklisis” which means entreaty, supplication–exactly what Moses was doing for the Pharaoh. But, we have someone more important than Moses, “the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26).
“Too many are counting on a long stretch of a tomorrow; but that is a mistake. Let every one be educated in such a way as to show the importance for the special work for today…. ‘Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.’ The Lord prefaces the requirement by the use of the word ‘son.’ How tender, how compassionate, yet withal, how urgent! …
“‘What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.’” Special Testimonies on Education, March 21, 1895.” (FE, p. 366).
“Beware of procrastination. Do not put off the work of forsaking your sins and seeking purity of heart through Jesus. Here is where thousands upon thousands have erred to their eternal loss. I will not here dwell upon the shortness and uncertainty of life; but there is a terrible danger–a danger not sufficiently understood–in delaying to yield to the pleading voice of God’s Holy Spirit, in choosing to live in sin; for such this delay really is. Sin, however small it may be esteemed, can be indulged in only at the peril of infinite loss. What we do not overcome, will overcome us and work out our destruction.” (SC, p. 32).
“Adam and Eve persuaded themselves that in so small a matter as eating of the forbidden fruit there could not result such terrible consequences as God had declared. But this small matter was the transgression of God’s immutable and holy law, and it separated man from God and opened the floodgates of death and untold woe upon our world. Age after age there has gone up from our earth a continual cry of mourning, and the whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain as a consequence of man’s disobedience. Heaven itself has felt the effects of his rebellion against God. Calvary stands as a memorial of the amazing sacrifice required to atone for the transgression of the divine law. Let us not regard sin as a trivial thing.” (SC, p. 33).
The only reason why there is still sin in Jerusalem, while “the man clothed in linen” with the inkhorn by his side is going through it putting “a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof” is that the cross of Calvary has not been treasured enough; there has not been enough time to spend with Jesus, there has not been conformity to the principles He so clearly sets in the Scriptures out of love for Him, there has not been a new birth experience and therefore no death to self.
The door of grace is still open, and we have been hearing this for years, in other words, there is still time; if not today, “mañana”. Let us not forget what happened to Pharaoh.
“The gifts of Jesus are ever fresh and new. . . . Each new gift increases the capacity of the receiver to appreciate and enjoy the blessings of the Lord. He gives grace for grace. There can be no failure of supply. If you abide in Him, the fact that you receive a rich gift today insures the reception of a richer gift tomorrow. . . .” (AG, p. 104).
Let “mañana” mean for each one of us an expectation of richer gifts and of an ever more lively hope. Amen.
Teresa Corti