I was thinking recently about procrastination.  No one has ever accused me of being a procrastinator, but there are times when I have accused Tom of being one.  Tom likes to consider all his options before he makes a decision about something.  And he waits because there might be better options available tomorrow.  I consider the options I have now and make a decision, sometimes deciding too quickly.  Neither way is right or wrong, but they are different and the difference can lead to long discussions.

Some people are experts at procrastination.  They can get more procrastinating done in a day than I can get done in a month.  I find people like that extremely irritating.  I want to yell at them, “Just do something!”  We all, however, have areas where we procrastinate.

You can find an excellent article on procrastination here.  The article lists 15 reasons why people procrastinate.  When I read it, I realized that the one that tempts me the most is when I have an unpleasant or disliked task to do.  I often procrastinate about cleaning the toilet.  Through my years of experience in fighting this tendency, I have learned to do the disagreeable thing first and get it out of the way.  Then I can do the things I enjoy.

Do you have a problem with procrastination?  Are there things you put off until tomorrow?  My daily devotions included a quote that says, “Procrastination is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.”  And there are plenty of Bible verses that encourage us to work diligently and not be lazy.

There are two things, in particular, that we should not put off.  First, we need to accept Jesus as our Savior and give our lives over to him every day.  We don’t want to reach the end of our life and find out it is too late to follow him.

Second, it is vitally important not to put off letting people know we love them or am thinking about them.  Sometimes I think about writing a note to someone but put it off.  Later I read the obituary of the person and realize it is too late.  I can write the note to their survivors, but it is too late to let that person know how much they meant to me.

Don’t put off till tomorrow what might have eternal significance today.  Accept and follow Jesus.  Let others know you love them.  Do the hard things first.