I used to be so good at being last-minute that I was dangerous. I was dangerous because I knew that I could cram things in right before the deadline. Whether it was a school paper, a home responsibility, or a work project, I figured out where my limit was, and I kept trying to push it.
The scary thing was that the more I succeeded in my last-minute mad dashes to the finish lines, the more I trusted in my efforts. While pride told me that I could operate that way because that’s how I was wired, I was actually a card-toting procrastinator that blamed my laziness on how God designed me. In reality, I could never envision getting to the second mile in any area of my life because I barely finished the first mile in time. If you have ever struggled with how you spend your time and how laziness can affect you, it’s time to go the second mile in leaving laziness.
Stop Making Excuses
- If you are going to fight procrastination, you are going to have to address the procrastinator.
- Prov. 6:6-11 – Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief,
officer, or ruler,
she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food inharvest .
How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
- Prov. 6:6-11 – Go to the ant, O sluggard;
- Stop disguising laziness by claiming that you aren’t the organized type.
- Prov. 13:4 – Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.
- Don’t blame God for your laziness.
- Eph. 2:10 – For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
- You don’t need more hours in the day; you need more discipline in your day.
- Prov. 14:23 – All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Start Making Solutions
- Even if you are not naturally organized, you can train yourself to be disciplined.
- Acknowledge your weaknesses and find ways to bypass them.
- Stop prioritizing your schedule and start scheduling your priorities.
- Be relentlessly zealous with your time to create margin for worthwhile works.
- Titus 2:14 – who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
- Eph. 5:16 – making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
- Col. 3:23 – Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.
GET THE 2ND MILE ON YOUR FAVORITE APP
You can listen to the 2nd Mile Podcast here or download it on your favorite app below. Some of the main points are transcribed for you below as well.
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
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