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Jan 05, 2024 06:00am

Putting Off Procrastination

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I did it at the end of last year, and the year before that and the year before that… for as long as I can remember. And I always have the best of intentions, but here it is that time of year again and I still haven’t checked off all the “New Years Resolutions” I made in 2022! Oh sure, I’ve made some progress on some of them, but there are always a few that stare back at me from the page and that’s about as far as it went.

For instance, last year’s Resolution #5 was to learn to play the piano. I figured if I practiced a little every day, I’d be doing pretty well by the end of the year. After all, I can read treble notes (a little) and that’s a start, right? So why am I no better at playing the piano this year than last year when I’ve had almost a year to do it? The answer is simple — procrastination!

I once heard a sermon title that I just loved. I believe it was one by Charles Stanley, and it was called “Putting Off Procrastination!” I’m sure I’d be much better off if I remembered the sermon itself, but I do love the title.

Does you ever have a problem with procrastination… putting off something we know we need to do? And have you ever noticed that we don’t usually put off the easy and enjoyable tasks, but the hard ones are another matter altogether?

What are some of the reasons we (I) procrastinate? Maybe the task is too complicated, and I’m not really sure I know how to do it. May it will take a lot of time, and there are other things I need (or want) to do. Maybe I’m afraid I’ll fail at the task so I don’t even try?

A friend of mine once said, “Confession is good for the soul, but it’s hard on the reputation,” but here goes — the main reason I procrastinate is because I really don’t want to do it! Oh, I’d love to be able to play the piano, but I’m just not willing to put in the time and effort to learn how to do it! So here I sit and all I can play is the radio!

I read somewhere that we “procrastinate” until the pain of doing the job is less than the pain of not getting the job done, and there’s a lot of truth to that.

The Bible has a lot to say about doing what we know needs to be done — especially when God is the one telling us to do it, but all the verses pretty much boil down to these three things:

Do it — “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17)

Do it now — “Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do” (Proverbs 6:4 NLT)

Do it well — “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might…” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

Is God calling you (or me) to do something? If so, we’d better get to it! What’s the worst that could happen? Failure? It’s like my Daddy Bob used to say, “If you did something wrong, at least you were doing something.” The only real failure is failure to obey our Lord, whatever He call us to do. And remember — delayed obedience is disobedience! So do it, do it now and do it well!