Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. (Proverbs 27:1)
Did you know there is one thing that no one who has lived or will live is able to do? That one thing is serve God tomorrow. Many of us plan to serve God tomorrow, but make no mistake, no one has ever done it and no one ever will!
Procrastination is a powerful enemy of the people of God. The word procrastinate comes from two Latin words which, combined, mean “toward tomorrow.” Procrastination whispers, “Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow?” Mark Twain once quipped, “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” Procrastination is the mindset of simply being content to look toward tomorrow when we should be living for today.
Without question, procrastination is one of the unhealthiest habits we can develop, because it eliminates any opportunity for progress. When life is calling us to make measurable progress in reasonable time, procrastination tells us to wait for the “right” time or the “perfect” opportunity, when we have all of our proverbial ducks in a row. But somewhere in the back of our minds, we understand that perfection is impossible and unreachable, so we push off until tomorrow what we should be doing today. And tomorrow never comes!
I have allowed procrastination to set me back, and I have also learned from experience that progress can and will be made in less than perfect circumstances, because those are the only circumstances we have!
Regardless of where this message finds you today, isn’t it time to do what you know you ought to do? At the office? In your studies? In your marriage? With your children? For your health? With your finances? At your church? In your community?
Take a moment to prayerfully consider what is fueling your resistance to rising above procrastination. Is it the possibility of moving beyond your comfort zone? Then do what is uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable. It is the prospect of falling short of your intended goals? Falling short isn’t failing unless you fail to get up.
So . . . have you been caught up in doing the one thing that no one can do—serving God tomorrow? We all do, from time to time, which is why we must make a deliberate decision to choose either procrastination or progress. Remember, procrastination in the past does not define who you are. It only defines what you did (or chose not to do). You are a child of the Most High God, and you have been made for greatness. His mercies are new every morning and those mercies should be all the motivation you need to stop procrastinating and begin making progress in the direction God is calling you to go.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 