Putting off until tomorrow what you could do today has a name – PROCRASTINATION. If it made the headlines of a newspaper it be entitled “Satan’s Number One Tool”. Few people escape its temptations. If we confess, we have all fallen victims to procrastination. Once we have succumbed, we feel guilty, disappointed in ourselves and we usually resolve to do better next time. But next time comes and we repeat the cycle. Gloria Pitzer confirms this truth in a little poem: Procrastination is my sin. It brings me naught but sorrow. I know that I should stop it. In fact, I will…tomorrow.
Proverbs 20:4 is a factual statement of how the procrastinator comes up empty: “The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing. Proverbs 24:30-33 describes the consequences of a procrastinating farmer. His field grows up with thorns and supporting walls are broken down. Sleep and idleness result in poverty.
Procrastination is impartial to the slothful and the busy. While the slothful, lazy person may put off what should be done today, the busy often allow less important task to take priority over the urgent. While sleep can keep one from working, busyness can give full attention to the trivial and neglect the essential.
Pause for a moment and take inventory of your life. What is it that you are putting off that should be done today? Visiting a sick friend, giving encouragement to a neighbor, joining the choir, volunteering to serve on a committee, receiving Christ into your life, joining the church, attending Sunday School & Worship regularly, asking someone you have offended for forgiveness or forgiving someone who has offended you, reading your Bible, spending time in prayer, _____? The list goes on. You fill in the blank
Recognizing our tendency to procrastinate is the first step. The second step is a determination to do something about it. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle urges Christians to walk (live) wisely, “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Eph. 5:15-16) Redeeming the time is a matter of priorities. First giving our lives fully to Christ and second, asking the Holy Spirit to give us both a desire and an energy to be about our Heavenly Father’s business. Living each day to please and honor God gives us reason to wake up each morning.
In His Love,
Charles
