At the top of several pages of my sermon notes is one word – “testimonials.” In the middle of a sermon, #God would nudge me and whisper, “Make a testimonials page.” I would write the note and plan on doing it the next day. Then I procrastinated.

Listening to Steven Furtick’s “1:Minute Motivation” jolted me. There was that word – procrastination.

“Whatever is in your heart to do you better do it now. …sometimes the devil will tell you you’re being patient…if he can get you to mistake procrastination for patience, he can keep you locked out of the blessing that is on the other side of your obedience.” “Don’t Blow It,” 1:Minute Motivation, Steven Furtick

I had put every other task ahead of the assignment #God gave me. I repented and pulled up the one testimonial I had copied.

Over the next four hours, I read every comment on my blog and LinkedIn. Then I went to my Facebook page and read the comments there.

I typed the comments and the title of the post. I added the name and job of those I knew. I noted where the comment was from and the date. Then I added links to each post. As I published the page, I realized, procrastination is an idol – it’s putting other things before God.

Exodus 20:5, “…I’m a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me.” The Message

I learned something else, too. I thought the phrase “punishing the children to the third and fourth generation” meant God punished them for their parent’s sins. That is not necessarily so.

God punishes children for sins they commit. They may justify them because their parents did the same thing.

However, sin has consequences. Unfortunately, children suffer the consequences right along with their parents. These consequences are for unrepentant people who hate God. There’s a promise for those who repent and love God.

Exodus 20:6, “But I’m unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.” The Message

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“You don’t have to do anything to experience God’s love, but you must know His voice and follow His direction to experience His blessing.” “The Word for You Today,” October 24, 2018

Have you completed a task you procrastinated over? How do you defeat procrastination?

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