Next Year, Next Year, Next Year

The Cincinnati Bengals got off to a good start to the 2026 NFL season as they beat the Tampa Bay Bucs 33-27 in Week 1. They have some major offensive weapons and are led by star quarterback Joe Burrow. 

The team drafted him in 2020, and in 2021 they made it to the Super Bowl, and in 2022 they made it to the AFC Championship Game. However, they have now missed the playoffs in three straight years.

They want this season to be different, which is why starting off hot matters instead of waiting too late to get the team rolling. They also feel a sense of urgency to get back to the playoffs and win a Super Bowl. 

Joe Burrow has been setting the tone with that mentality as he made these comments before the season started:

“I'm just trying to bring a now-or-never mentality to the day-by-day process. If you're not, what are you doing? Attack the day with a championship mindset. The rest will take care of itself. 

"You can keep pushing it down the road, or you can talk about it now and say this is the year. You know, I'm tired of saying, 'Next year, next year, next year.' This is it.

"Your life is too short to keep pushing things down the road. I'm trying to instill some urgency and some intensity in everybody to go and be great every day and try to make it happen.

“I'm trying to show our guys the urgency that I have and that I want us to have as an organization to go and make it happen." 

Of course, they’ll have to stay healthy and get some breaks this year, but I appreciate his approach and his leadership in focusing the team on winning now, doing what is necessary today, and not saying we’ll win one day down the line!

I believe these quotes offer encouragement and truth that can inspire us in our own lives. We too need to bring “a now-or-never mentality to the day-by-day process” and also start doing what really matters now instead of “next year, next year, next year.”

It’s so easy to have good intentions about getting physically or spiritually healthy, taking the step of faith we know we need to take, or truly surrendering the sin holding us back, but too often we “keep pushing things down the road.”

We just talk about reaching out to our hurting friend one day instead of doing it now. We say we’ll start serving, giving, and joining a Bible study someday, but Burrow is right: “life is too short to keep pushing things down the road.”

Just like Burrow, we need to “instill some urgency” and stop delaying the important things God is calling us to do and not do. There’s no reason to wait to obey and follow Jesus; today is the day!

We can declare the words of Psalm 119:60 (NLT), “I will hurry, without delay, to obey Your commands.”

If we desire to live like Jesus, trusting Him in all areas of our lives, what are we waiting for? Aren’t we “tired of saying, 'next year, next year, next year?' This is it.”

We aren’t promised tomorrow, so let’s take God’s Word seriously today. Let’s have a sense of urgency about seeking first His Kingdom, telling others about Him, and taking whatever steps He wants us to take now. We aren’t promised next year, and today offers so much opportunity.

Instead of procrastinating and saying we’ll do it tomorrow, let’s do it today. 

Proverbs 27:1 (ESV) tells us, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

In the context of Paul’s warning about not hardening our hearts like the Israelites did when they wandered in the wilderness, he writes this in Hebrews 3:13-15 (TLB):

"Speak to each other about these things every day while there is still time so that none of you will become hardened against God, being blinded by the glamor of sin. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as we did when we first became Christians, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

"But now is the time. Never forget the warning, 'Today if you hear God’s voice speaking to you, do not harden your hearts against him, as the people of Israel did when they rebelled against him in the desert.'"

We need to encourage each other today to take sin seriously, feel a sense of urgency about God's things, obey quickly, and love Him fully now. Let’s not delay, but rather rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to start “winning right away.”

I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, forgive me for my delayed obedience, and please help me to quickly respond to Your Word. I pray that I won’t procrastinate with the things that matter most. Please give me a sense of urgency when it comes to serving You and living the life You’ve called me to live. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.