It is Later than You Think! – Sunday, April 26, 1942
There is one of the current phrases of our day that carries with it a refrain of unforgettable implication—just these six words—“It is later than you think.” It is later than most of us think. Perhaps it is later than nay of us think. The unpredictable suddenness with which world-shaking events happen these days, makes us shockingly aware that it is later than is comfortable as pertaining to anything that should now be done or that should have been done before now. But beyond all this, and quite aside from the course of world events, it is later than most of us think even in our personal lives.
It is a characteristic of youth to suppose that life is long enough for the satisfying of all ambitions, for the realization of all things hoped for—that time, if not endless, at least is to be had in such abundance that the pleasant experience of its untroubled passing is a luxury we can well afford.
Even when some of us pass beyond our youth, and then again pass further beyond, and into the years when others of our age seem old, still the passing of time to many is something to be pleasantly ignored. But regardless of our prodigal attitude toward the passing days—regardless of our beliefs concerning things to come in the impenetrable beyond, regardless of what credence to place in the fulfillment of prophecy, or in a day of judgement, and regardless of what limitations we place upon the duration of time, it is later than you think—whether we are in our youth or in the years that look back and remember—whether the Reaper calls in springtime or whether He suffers us to pursue our way on borrowed time, still life is all too short for what remains to be done, and still it is later than most of us think.
Said the Savior of the world: “Watch ye, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hours.” (Matthew 25:6 and 13) “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” (Luke 12:20) “Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called today.” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:25) Again there comes the unforgettable refrain of time’s passing—it is later than you think.!
By Richard L. Evans, spoken from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, April 26, 1942, over Radio Station KSL and the Nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System. Copyright – 1942.
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April 26, 1942
Broadcast Number 0,662