Enjoy Now, Pay Later

On our way back from church, we drove past a sign that caught my attention. I saw it from afar so I was able to take a quick photo of it when we got close enough.

When I moved to the United Kingdom to live with my husband, I realised that life in this part of the world is quite different from what I had lived and knew to be normal. In Nigeria where I was born and raised, we were taught never to buy anything we couldn’t afford. So I still remember how shocked I was when I first came across ads over here selling products that you could buy now and pay in 3 years time. Although there were some that boasted of Interest-free rates, there were others with a whopping 1758% APR and other crazy interest rates.

A Google search on the average debt level in the UK gave me this result:

Average UK household debt now stands at record £15,400

(as at January 2019, according to The Guardian)

When I see these ads, I ask myself, “Do I really need that latest phone?” “Do I really need to change my sofa?” “Do I really need that holiday?” “Do I really need that credit card?” I can’t shake off the feeling that most of these debts are as a result of the lack of self-control and the consequences of our consumerist lifestyle.

ENJOY NOW, PAY LATER

Unfortunately, many people have been deceived into believing that in life we can enjoy now and pay later. So they live for the fleeting and momentary pleasures the world has to offer, thinking they can pay for it in the life to come – if they believe there is any at all. I remember when I was much younger and it was a thing to hear some of my peers explain the reason for their frivolous lifestyles by saying it was the time to enjoy and explore while they were young as they had the time to straighten out when they got older.

ENJOY NOW, PAY LATER

So you might enjoy your cigarettes now, but you might not be able to afford the payment of lung cancer much later.

You might enjoy drinking and getting drunk, but you might have to pay later with liver disease.

You can enjoy the pleasures of sin that satisfy your flesh, but can you afford the payment of an eternity in hell?

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

Jesus paid the price for our lives when he took our sins with him to the cross and now offers us freedom from the clutches of sin and death. We don’t have to pay later for the blessing of eternal life we receive in him.

For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20

As we surrender ourselves daily to the Spirit of God, He enables us to make the choices that honour Him and live lives that please Him. The world may tell us to enjoy all that is vain now and pay later, but it does not mention that we will not be able to afford the payment when the time comes. So be wise and ignore every sign that says ‘Enjoy Now, Pay Later’.