About twenty percent of adults today admit to being regular procrastinators. This represents a five-fold increase in the last 30 years, and yet some experts believe the number is still less than the reality.
Writing for VeryWellMind.com, Kendra Cherry defines procrastination as “the act of delaying or putting off tasks until the last minute, or past their deadline.”
This is most common with chores, work tasks, and of course school responsibilities. In fact, college and high school students are (according to some experts) among the most common procrastinators.
Procrastination, though common, can have negative effects on our life, including missed opportunities, financial or career consequences, strains on our relationships, and more stress overall in life.
We often justify our procrastination by explaining (to others or ourselves) that we’re “not ready” to undertake the tasks or responsibilities in question. And while sometimes we may need to take time to pray or plan, or even (depending on the context) rest, procrastination (in and of itself) is usually not the right approach.
The reality is that if you wait until you’re in the right frame of mind to do certain tasks (especially undesirable ones), you will probably find that the right time simply never comes along and the task never gets completed.
Kendra Cherry, “What is Procrastination?” VeryWellMind.com, May 30, 2020
There’s one area, however, that we dare not procrastinate, and that’s the most important area or aspect of our lives: our relationship with God.
Too often, people assure themselves (or others) that they will – one day – get their hearts right with God, read the Bible, pray more, or get back into church. They’ll do this (they say) after they’ve had fun, fixed some things in their life, or taken care of some other responsibilities first.
This kind of procrastination is precisely what James warns against in his epistle. There are things that are expected of us now – in this life, while we are here – and we can’t count on there being a tomorrow.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
James 4:13-17, NKJV
We simply cannot count on the rest of “today” or that there will be a “tomorrow.” We are mortal. We live with a ticking clock, and we don’t know when our clock will stop.
To count on or boast in tomorrow is to boast in arrogance — hollow arrogance at that.
The time to do what is right is NOW.
And James says that, if we know what we’re supposed to do, and we don’t do it, it’s a sin.
Period.
There’s no “I’ll do it later.”
God’s will is that we do what is right in the moment — every day that He blesses us with life.
It’s one thing to procrastinate on a school or work project. It’s another to procrastinate in our relationship with God.
Life is a precious gift – a gift from God. And it’s one we shouldn’t take for granted. It’s one that we must cherish each day as we give ourselves back to Him in faithful worship, obedience, and service.
God bless you.
