Procrastination - The Thief of Time

Collins Concise Dictionary defines the verb procrastinate as a word meaning to put off or delay an action until later; or postpone until tomorrow. The noun procrastination therefore has the meaning of a delayed or postponed action. All of us at one time or another has procrastinated over matters. While this is not necessarily a bad thing; often a delay in settling a matter can be detrimental.

Sometimes in life issues come up that need clear cut definite action to resolve those issues. Sometimes those issues can be quite confronting. They are often problems we don't really want to have to deal with; for instance, such things as illness, financial stress, or verbal, physical and emotional abuse. Sometimes when these problems occur we have choices to make to rectify or resolve the problems. This is where we often procrastinate, we delay our decision and not just for a day or two!

Our procrastination sometimes means lost opportunities. My wife likes shopping occasionally for new clothes, as ladies often do. We can be in a dress shop and she likes a certain dress but is not sure if she should buy it. She tells the shop assistant, "I will go away and think about it." Oftentimes that particular item is marked down with a reduced price. By the time my wife does the rounds of other dress shops and returns - the item has been sold! Her procrastination lost her the opportunity to own that particular dress.

When I worked as a nurse at Innisfail Hospital in Far North Queensland I remember talking to one of the Wardsmen [Orderlies]. He was telling me about his brother who had a large mole on his back. He kept telling his brother to have a medical doctor look at the mole. His brother kept putting off going to a doctor. This went on for a few years. By the time his brother finally decided to see a doctor the mole was greatly enlarged and had become malignant. One kilogram of flesh was removed from his back to cut out and remove the malignant tissues. The mole had become a serious health issue. His procrastination affected his health and well being.

When we procrastinate time slips away. We often can't regain our lost opportunities. Have you wished at times you could go back and change a decision, or a course of action, that turned out badly? Maybe the consequence of your action has set in motion a chain of events that cannot be undone. If you had not procrastinated at the time and made a timely decision the outcome would have been much better.

There are times in life when it is wise and prudent to stop and think about matters before we make a decision to go ahead or not. We need to weigh up the positive and negative aspects of our decision. Rushing blindly into a decision can be disastrous.

What I am mainly concerned about in this blog post is when we procrastinate for long periods, before making a decision. As the time slips by the window of opportunity becomes smaller and smaller. Eventually it will run out!

I am sure that you can think of occasions when you procrastinated and a good opportunity suddenly disappeared. In life many of us seize good opportunities as they arise. It is very satisfying when those opportunities have a beneficial effect in our lives. However, it is not such a good feeling if we procrastinated and lost the opportunity because of our inaction.

Many of us are diligent in our affairs in this life. We spend time and money and effort in making the best of our situation in life. How many of us think about what our situation will be when we depart from this life? Maybe you don't want to think about this just now? None of us are guaranteed that we will live to see another sunrise. If you were to die tonight; where would you spend eternity?

The Holy Bible reveals two places for departed souls; either Heaven or Hell. If you go to Hell it is because you have chosen to go there. Maybe you have not consciously chosen Hell as your destination after death. Your procrastination about God's offer of eternal salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ has set you on a course for Hell. If you delay this decision you may simply run out of time!

Let's see what the Preacher in the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes has to say in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

"(1) To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:

(2) a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;
(3) a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
(4) a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
(5) a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

(6) a time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

(7) a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
(8) a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."

The above verses cover a whole gamut of life's experiences. There are 28 instances of time recorded; the most telling are the first two; "a time to be born, and a time to die”.  Every other experience in life occurs between these two points in time. Each of us has an allotted time span on Planet Earth. When our allotted time span is over we move out of time into eternity; either into Heaven or Hell! The decisions we make before we die will decide where we spend eternity! If we have made the wrong decisions; once we are dead it is too late to change our mind, because our eternal destiny is now set in place forever.

Procrastination has been labelled 'The thief of time'. Procrastination can also be labelled 'The thief of souls'.

 

There is a warning sounded out in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2:
"(1) We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
(2) For He says:"In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you."
Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

Let's look at Romans 10:8-13:

"(8) But what does it say?"The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
(9) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

(10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

(11) For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
(12) For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.

(13) For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Remember, "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." None of us knows what tomorrow will bring us; that is why the exhortation is to be saved - today! 

Jon Peasey

Words of Life blog www.jrpeasey.blogspot.com

Ebooks author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey 

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted. Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted for clarity. Words in bold type emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate directly to the current subject matter is quoted.] 

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