Don’t put things off until tomorrow
“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived … and the door was shut”
— Matthew 2:10 (NIV)
For the past several years, there has been something I’ve been meaning to do. However, I find myself putting it off. Although I am not usually one to put things off, I find myself dragging my feet regarding this issue. I’m even asking myself, “Why am I procrastinating about this?”
Have you found yourself putting something off until a later time? It happens to all of us from time to time. It may be something as small as emptying the trash can. But even a small delay eventually causes a big stink.
Procrastination, like a thief in the night, creeps up on us and unexpectedly steals something away. Holding off until another time may cause us to miss, lose or delay an important opportunity.
In the biblical account in Matthew 25, Jesus warns us of missed opportunities because we’ve put something off. His example is a story about 10 women who were warned to prepare for the bridegroom. By trimming the wicks on their lamps and keeping them filled with oil, they would be prepared to watch for him in case he arrived during the night.
Five of these women were wise and promptly did as they were instructed. The other five were foolish as they put off doing today what they felt could be done tomorrow instead.
When they finally got around to purchasing the oil, they missed out on going with their bridegroom because he arrived while they had gone to prepare. The door was shut for that opportunity to ever take place again.
Why do we do it? Sometimes the cost is too high. Other times, it’s fear of the unknown. Sometimes we are too lazy or too busy. There reasons are numerous.
The devil uses temptations such as procrastination to steal God-given opportunities from us. He convinces us that putting things off until tomorrow won’t matter. But what we do today does matter. Temptations come to push something important aside. And, oftentimes, once the door is shut, we’ve missed out.
Rather than allowing procrastination to steal our opportunity, we need to remember the old saying: “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”
• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author of the book “Letters To A Friend,” speaker, life and writing coach and nurse. She can be contacted at annetteebudzban@aol.com.