Procrastination

I’m very good at putting things off. Fifteen minutes here, an hour there and a few months down the road for good measure. Oddly enough, I had a boss who said that I worked better under deadlines, so I set them for myself – and miss them at home, unlike how well I kept them at work. I need to be as good a taskmaster as my boss was. I’m not there yet.

There are good applications in the Bible for getting jobs done:

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. (Proverbs 6:6-11 KJV)

As much as we dislike ants (especially fire ants!!) they are a good guide here. They plan ahead and work the plan. They cooperate and feed the colony. They do not fold their hands and sleep the day away (like my cat pretty much does) since people will not put food out for them. Well, not on purpose.

The next example – well, I sure won’t put a picture up – is not a good one I would use:

The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces. (Proverbs 30:28 KJV)

You’ll find them in the king’s palace as well as everywhere else. No place is without them and they are constantly building and rebuilding. The previous verse speaks of the locust, without a king yet banding together to accomplish their goals. All of these insects working hard for survival.

The Bible also talks about man and working – besides the utterance from God:

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, (Genesis 3:19a KJV)

Later, in the New Testament, there’s a verse taken to heart in America’s colonial period:

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10 KJV)

William Bradford’s journals tell of a disastrous first year when everything was held in common. Putting everyone to work on their own property brought us that picture of the first Thanksgiving that we remember each year. It is up to each of us to provide for ourselves and our family:

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. (1 Timothy 5:8 KJV)

When we see an ant stretch out lolling around sipping on a straw, then we might be able to reconsider our own methodology – otherwise, we are to be good stewards of not only our time and money but of our energy and our actions.

Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. (Luke 12:43 KJV)

Which servant? Go to Luke 12 and read the parable, Peter’s question and Christ’s answer. I found it needed to be me.