No Better Time Than the Present
When you’re feeling lazy, come and learn a lesson from this tale of the tiny ant. Yes, all you lazybones, come learn from the example of the ant and enter into wisdom. The ants have no chief, no boss, no manager—no one has to tell them what to do. You’ll see them working and toiling all summer long, stockpiling their food in preparation for winter. So wake up, sleepyhead. How long will you lie there? When will you wake up and get out of bed? If you keep nodding off and thinking, “I’ll do it later,” or say to yourself, “I’ll just sit back awhile and take it easy,” just watch how the future unfolds! By making excuses you’ll learn what it means to go without. Poverty will pounce on you like a bandit and move in as your roommate for life. Proverbs 6:6-11 (The Passion Translation, TPT)
One day I passed by the field of a lazy man and I noticed the vineyards of a slacker. I observed nothing but thorns, weeds, and broken-down walls. So I considered their lack of wisdom, and I pondered the lessons I could learn from this: Professional work habits prevent poverty from becoming your permanent business partner. And: If you put off until tomorrow the work you could do today, tomorrow never seems to come. Proverbs 24:30-34 (The Passion Translation, TPT)
Procrastination is a form of laziness, and the Bible has strong words for people who engage in it. It is tempting for all of us to put off things we need to do- especially unpleasant or difficult things. However, we will find that we will have much more peace and will be more productive if we do now what we know to do.
It is especially important for us to be immediate in our response to things that the Lord has told us to do. I have heard it said that delayed obedience is really disobedience.
We need to be people of excellence- doing things at the right time. When we put off things that we need to do, it can put us in a situation where we rush through a task because we waited so long to do it. And when we rush, the outcome is usually not as good as if we had done it when we should have. People who regularly procrastinate tend to be less productive and less successful than those who do not. As we read in Proverbs 6: “Poverty will pounce on you like a bandit and move in as your roommate for life.”
Being prompt to take care of things requires mental discipline; we cannot accept excuses that arise in our minds about why we should wait until later to do things. If we decide to do things right away, those tasks will not be hanging over our heads, trying to take our peace. That is why the enemy tempts us with thoughts of putting things off- he wants to steal our peace.
Let me balance this out by adding that everything does not need to be done immediately. We have to prioritize our responsibilities and be wise about giving ourselves time to rest. However, if we know we need to be doing something and just delay doing it, it may take us forever to get around to a task that may have taken only a few minutes to accomplish. And as Proverbs 24 says: “If you put off until tomorrow the work you could do today, tomorrow never seems to come.”
The next time you are tempted to put off doing something, stop and recognize the voice of the enemy bringing you thoughts of delay. Tell yourself and him that you are a disciplined person and you are not going to put things off. Then, get right to it and get the job done. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel about yourself and your life when you decide to do things right away.
Let’s stop procrastinating- and let’s not put it off. After all, there really is no better time than the present to end our procrastinating ways.
