“I’ll get to it tomorrow”,”just one more episode”, and my favorite, “I can only do my best work under pressure”. Do these pitiful excuses sound familiar to you? I honestly believe that procrastination is a character flaw that we all can identify with at one point in time or another. We live in a culture that has conditioned us to constantly crave entertainment. There are so many forces fighting for our time. Back in the day we only had cable television. Now we have “on-demand” services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, in which we can almost always find just what we want to watch or spend over an hour just searching for it if what we are looking for is not there. We have multiple (anti) social media accounts that can leave us scrolling through our smartphones aimlessly in almost a vegetative state. It seems so harmless on the surface but it is actually a part of our flesh that we will have to resist. These devices are nothing but tools to keep us zoned out, zombie like, and ineffective. The Bible warns us about laziness and its ramifications.“The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.” – Proverbs 13:4
Consistent procrastination can bring about many consequences, Missed opportunities, stress from the build up of unfinished task, and even poverty just to name a few. But the most dangerous effect is spiritual laziness. Have you ever noticed that you can come home and watch 4 hours of tv and struggle to read the Bible for 30 minutes? Can you look down, open a social media app, and when you look up several minutes have gone by? Fellow Christians this is not an accident. Procrastination is our enemy. Each one of us has an assignment some have more to do than others.
Whether you are a babe in Christ or a mature Christian we all need to get closer to the Lord. He gives us peace in storms, direction, and He is just good. We aren’t saved by our works but we are saved by grace to work for His Kingdom (Titus 2:14). Some of us need to labor in prayer for our love ones, have bible study with our children, share the gospel with anyone who will listen, or just spend an hour with the Lord in prayer and worship. We all have something to do but if we are allowing entertainment, the devil’s substitute for joy to devour most of our everyday lives these things cannot get done.
“I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” – John 9:4
The work that we do for the sake of the gospel is for a limited time only. Christians particularly in our part of the world need to labor for lost souls while we have the time, freedom, and strength to do so. What is your procrastination station? Once you figure that out be mindful of it, treat it as your enemy, and be intentional about getting it under control. For example you can limit your time on social media usage by uninstalling the application from your cell phone and only checking it on a computer. Most importantly ask the Lord to help you see time as your most precious and valued resource and how you should use it to best glorify Him.
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
March 16, 2018 at 7:47 pm
Hey Marcus, I almost said I will make a comment later. However, because of your lesson on procrastination I decided to respond immediately. Nice job on you continued dedication to standing up for the Kingdom and sharing your thoughts, wisdom and enthusiasm– real talk (Rob)
March 16, 2018 at 8:26 pm
Hey Rob! Thanks for all the encouragement my brother. Praise God I’m glad it blessed you.