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Mañana Is
Soon Enough For Me
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| Dee Bowman |
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Even our everyday conversation
admits to our propensity to procrastination. We say things like, “never
put off til tomorrow what you can do today,” or “there’s no time
like the present.” Then, there is that most insightful saying that “procrastination
is the thief of time.” Sayings like that just serve to point out the
fact that we tend to put off things.
The Hebrew writer warns of
just such, albeit in a positive way, when he says (Heb. 3:13), “.exhort
one another daily, while it is called today…” And Paul speaks to the
issue when he warns the Corinthians that “…now is the accepted time;
behold today is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:3). Both these
enjoinders recognize a tendency toward procrastination.
Procrastination sneaks up
on you. Once you have found new information and you recognize that you
sustain an obligation to it, response should follow. You can’t just
ignore responsibility; but you can put it off. It is the purpose of the
preached gospel to create responsibility, to storm the will so that
decisions are made—decisions to do right, to do better, to do
differently. Most everyone agrees with that; but there is still the
tendency to shove the obligation forward til a later time.
Responsibility deferred is
no different than responsibility ignored. The devil wins either way. If
you know you are presently amenable to a some truth and you merely intend
to do something about it sometime, it’s not really different from
planning to do nothing at all. The same result is achieved: nothing is
done in either case. If Satan can just cause you to put it off, he still
wins.
I’d like to share with
you just a few things that come from procrastination.
First, to refuse to obey
presently, reduces the sense of urgency. No command, no responsibility is
so small that it doesn’t deserve immediate attention when possible. The
longer the delay to action, the less apt you are to act. Admittedly, you
may not be able to achieve everything the responsibility demands
immediately, but you can start. Procrastination retards response.
Second, procrastination is
not far removed from rebellious disobedience. Oh, it doesn’t have the
force of rebellion, but it has the same substance. In reality,
postponement is equal to disobedience. In Luke 14:15-20, several excuses
for not meeting immediate obligations and privileges are given. In each of
these cases there is no inclination to grasp the present opportunity. Our
excuses are not reasons, but efforts to put off doing what we know we need
to do. How sad.
Third, make note of this:
delay hardens the conscience. Procrastination brings about a gradual
deadening of that part of our mind which is intended to spur us on to
activity by accusing us. Our sense of moral obligation offers its
accusations initially, but a little less the second day, still less the
third, even less the fourth, until before long there is no longer any
sensitivity left, just a calloused bump on our moral suasion. Put it off
and you likely not only won’t do it, you won’t even care.
And finally,
procrastination promotes self-deception. Someone has said, “we lie
loudest when we lie to ourselves.” ‘Tis so true. Procrastination is a
form of self- deception. The devil loves it. It’s one of his most
effective tools. This consistent delay about getting things done brings
about a self-deception that grows and grows until it becomes perhaps his
most efficient means of deluding someone into not doing what he ought.
Make no mistake about it, you can deceive yourself into thinking you have
no responsibility, unless it’s something you want to do.
“Now” is a big little
word. It’s an important word. It means at once, immediately, today. It
has to do with the present time. It can never be made into anything but
what it is. And may I suggest that it’s all you have.
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Copyright (C)
2008
Southside Church of Christ
All rights reserved.
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