"Procrastination A Sin?"

BIBLE READING: Exodus 22-24

                I think we all have had our experiences with procrastination.  Whether it’s putting off cleaning the refrigerator, putting off sending that card, or making that payment; we have all procrastinated more than our fair share. We know as Christians we should be on top of things and try our best at everything we do, but does that mean that procrastination is a sin?  In some cases, it can be!  Now let me clarify, I am not saying that you will go to Hell if you don’t remove that bowl of chili that has been in your fridge since your New Year’s Eve party (but that is gross),  however, procrastination can become a sin if you are procrastinating with your relationship with God.  Notice what God says to the Israelites: “You shall not delay to offer from the fullest of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses” (Exodus 22:29)  What God means is that you should never procrastinate on what you give to God.  How often do we do that? Now…one could say, “that passage does not apply to me because we don’t have to offer anything from a harvest today.  Besides, this is the Old Testament and it doesn’t apply to us today.” Both of those statements may be true, but we do learn from the New Testament that the Old Testament was written for our learning (Romans 15:4).  Although today we may not have a harvest, and I am confident none of us have our own winepress, the principle to the lesson is we are not to procrastinate in anything we give to God.  That includes in our giving of money, in our giving our time and in the giving of ourselves.  The point is that God wants us to give to Him, what is rightly His in the first place.  What about you?  Have you been putting off obeying the Gospel for a more convenient time?  Have you robbed God and not given as you should on the first day of the week?  Have you procrastinated in doing those things that you know you need to be doing for the furtherance of the Gospel?  When we procrastinate in those areas, our procrastination becomes sin.  Let’s not put off tomorrow what we know we need to do today!