We have all heard the saying, hopefully in jest, “why do today what you can put off to tomorrow.” Although it may bring a laugh or two, it’s really a deadly saying because too many things are easy to put off to tomorrow and in doing so we are actually sinning in our attitude.
Wait a minute! Did I say you sin when you put things off to tomorrow? Yes. It’s a deadly sinful attitude to assume you will have tomorrow.
Follow the thought as we look into the book of James:
James 4:13–17 (ESV) — 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Notice the rebuke for the attitude of assuming you will do this thing or that thing tomorrow, but you do not know what tomorrow will bring. Furthermore, says James, you should remember that your life is like a mist that is here then it vanishes. The correct way to look at things is to remember if the Lord wills, we’ll do this or that but only if He wills.
So is it His will that we procrastinate? Not when we read that we are to redeem or make the most use of our time.
Ephesians 5:15–17 (ESV) — 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Not only do we have in the passage from James above, a rebuke for assuming we have tomorrow, a reminder of how brief our lives are, a rehearsal of how we are to look at life in the light of God’s sovereignty, but there is also a reminder of the sinfulness of neglect. Ouch!
James 4:17 (ESV) — 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
In addition to the sin of neglect in knowing to do right but not doing it, it is outright boasting when we assume we have tomorrow to do what we know should be done today.
Proverbs 27:1 (ESV) — 1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
Jesus warned his followers of going against His will either by neglect or intent as He spoke a parable about being ready for His presence by seeking to fulfill all that He has given His servants to do.
Luke 12:47 (ESV) — 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.
We must recognize that often we do not accomplish all that we have to do is the fact that most people take on too much. That means we must constantly prioritize according to what we say is most important. When it comes to serving God, He must be the top of the priority list.
Mark 12:28–31 (ESV) — 28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
We must be all in, which means when we prioritize our schedules and our “to do list” we must make decisions based upon our priorities and He must have the top of the heap. As we prioritize, we’ll find some things don’t belong on our “to do list” and we’ll see that often there are things on our schedules that are really robbing our time instead of making the most of the time.
The bottom line is to look at today as a gift from God and make the most of it to honor Him, not assuming you will have tomorrow. Prioritize your schedule and your “to do list” and honor Him in the way you view today as well as tomorrow.
Godspeed,
Bob Brubaker
