Why you should NOT Procrastinate

Happy snowy Monday friends,

I want to thank you for all your comments on Procrastination and while we're warm and toasty inside today I'd like to rest on this subject a bit longer.

I've done some studying on the subject and here is a bot of what I've learned on

Why we should NOT procrastinate:

Because we are imitators of Christ

The Bible says that all who are saved are to be like our Savior.

Isaiah 50:7 prophetically records the words of the Messiah: "For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed." If Jesus could set His face like a flint to do what God gave Him to do (Luke 9:51), shouldn't we do the same?

Hebrews 12:1-2, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us [or besets us], and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith"--now notice this--"who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Jesus did well what God had for Him to do. He did it with intensity. He set His face like a flint. He even looked past the shame and the suffering to the joy of doing the will of the Father.

If you and I are to imitate Christ, we have to adapt His attitude of immediacy. Whatever God puts into our hands to do, we need to do it as if it were the last opportunity we'll ever have to do it. It may well be. Whatever God gives you to do, do it with all your might because your Savior did and you want to be just like Him.

Because God created us with potential

You have the potential of doing great things for your Master. God created every human with enormous capacity, but unless you serve the Lord with fervency you'll never reach that capacity. The apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus Himself "gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to be a perfect [complete] man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine...but...may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head--Christ" (Eph. 4:11-15).

What those verses tell us is simply this: Jesus Christ is our full potential. We need to become like Him in all things. When we are able to reflect His character in every dimension of our lives--His love, purity, honesty, etc.--then we've reached our full potential in Him. Unfortunately, that full potential remains a distant dream for so many believers.

When you first came to trust Jesus as Savior, you were just a babe in Christ. You were just "getting into" this faith thing. You were just beginning to understand what heaven is all about. But if you've been a believer for a year, 10 years, 40 years, you're not at the "getting in" place any more. You should be moving on, well on your way to growing up in Christ.

Many believers remain in the "getting in" place. They remain spiritual babies all their lives. They feed on little Bible treats instead of enjoying a solid diet of the deep things of God's Word. They prefer spiritual junk food to a hearty meal. Think of it like consuming only candy, instead of building strong spiritual bones by feasting on God's meat. I think we an all agree that a steady diet of candy will not produce a strong and healthy body under any circumstances.

That doesn't have to be the case, of course. What we need is to get back to the Bible and spend sufficient time in it to understand the deeper things of God's Word. And when we do, we find out that God created us with a potential that's far beyond where we are right now.

Because the time is limited

Why should we do everything we do for God with all our might? Why should we seize every available opportunity to be used of Him? Because the opportunity for service to God is only for a very limited time.

A day comes for every person when death shuts the door on all opportunities for service to the Lord. In Psalm 6:5 David laments, "For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks?" And Paul urges, "Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry or drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy" (Rom. 13:13).

Today, right now, is the day we need to do what God gives us to do because we don't know how many days we have left.

How old are you today? Are you middle-aged or beyond? How long do you expect to live? And what do you know about tomorrow? What guarantees do you have that you'll have another 50 years or even 10 years to serve the Lord? You don't have those guarantees. That's why it's important that "whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you're going."

Here's that same pearl of wisdom said another way, by Jesus, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work" (John 9:4).

We have all eternity to enjoy the fruit of our labors here on earth, but we have only a few short hours before the sunset in which to work. We can't afford to wait. Whatever God calls and gifts us to do, we have to do it now and with all our might.

What are your thoughts?