‘Procrastination – or ‘why I should write this today!’

 I don’t know why I do it, but there are some things in life that I keep putting off until the last minute. Doing a tax return, getting the car serviced, mowing the lawns – and even writing for the website! Why the delay in writing? I like doing it, so it’s not to do with avoiding something unpleasant … it could be the need for the adrenalin rush of a deadline … or just needing to force myself to sit still for a while!

 But, here we are! And lo and behold I find my timid reflections tying with some weightier issues that have come across my mind lately. I came across a quote recently  : “Climate and Eternity – Why do we put off the Big Decisions?” It’s true isn’t it. Procrastination on the small issues is one thing, but putting off the big decisions might only make things worse later on.

 So why do we delay? Perhaps we feel the significance of a decision, so we want to be sure, we want to get it right. On climate change, for example, there have been some contradictory scientific reports, so it’s confusing for us ‘lay people’. That’s true; but isn’t it also true that for some time there’s been a fairly consistent recognition of global warming. Not only that, but for some years we’ve seen the amount of water available in dams getting smaller and smaller. So why hasn’t there been any action?

 It’s easy to see that governments, State & Federal, have done nothing; but really they are just acting on the fact that there’s been no great will from us the people. We are like them so often … we get absorbed in the present, we focus on our narrow concerns, we don’t want to change if there’ll be financial negatives involved. So as much as our uncertainty about knowledge, we’re caught up in our own preoccupations.

 I suspect the same holds for decisions about eternity. Yes, deciding about God, Jesus and truth is huge. Yes, the evidence is not ‘certain’ in the scientific sense. (Though there is more to it than just ‘blind faith’). But even when we do decide that God is there, that Jesus died and rose again, what holds us back from really following through on that & living 100% for God?

 Again … we get absorbed in the present, we focus on our narrow concerns, we don’t want to change if there’ll be (financial, ethical) negatives involved. So as much as our uncertainty about knowledge, we’re caught up in our own preoccupations. Let’s take note of Paul’s words in the letter to Corinth:

  See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!   2 Corinthians 6:2

 Who knows, tomorrow it might be too late?