By Rick Breth

“To be, or not to be.” That is, of course, a line from William Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet.

I just need to insert two words right here: “To be on time, or not to be, that is the question.”

Oh, I know. You’ve heard it so many times before. Over and over, probably. But just hang on a minute and keep reading. There is a reason you keep hearing about being on time!

You certainly won’t do well in school if you can’t make it to class on time. You will never be a success at work if you can’t make it to work on time. And if you are involved in sports, you won’t make the team if you can’t make it to practice on time. I am pretty sure that just about each one of us can think of that certain special event that was almost ruined because someone didn’t make it there on time.

A wise man once said, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

Whether or not you are on time shows a lot about your level of commitment. And the act of being on time shows proper courtesy to others—it’s a way of giving! Since someone, somewhere is depending on you to be on time.

Let’s say that you have morning classes and then go to work at 2 o’clock. Well, that person who you take over for at 2 o’clock may have to be to another job, or class, or to pick up their kids by 3 o’clock and if you are not on time to take over for them, then you could easily make them late for the activities they have to do later in their busy day.

See what I mean?

I know this has happened to all of us at one time or another. Our lives can be incredibly busy, and sometimes we can get held up by circumstances beyond our control and all of us are late on occasion. But this should not be the norm. Plan ahead as best you can, and call, if at all possible, to let the others know if you do get held up and are running late. We all depend heavily on each other to work as a team, so let’s all do our best to be on time. After all, late and a letdown are good things not to be.