“I’ll get to it tomorrow.” Or at least that’s what we tell ourselves when we put off today’s unwelcome tasks for another day. We could do it today, but doing it tomorrow feels better, at least when we push it out of our minds now. But inevitably, tomorrow becomes today, and our unfinished business weighs us down again. Life is full of unwelcome tasks, and procrastinating isn’t always morally neutral. Paying attention to how we manage our time isn’t a secular pursuit but a biblical one.
Paul tells us to make the best use of our time, for the days are evil (Eph 5:15). How we spend our time (especially our leisure time) says a lot about who we are and what we value. Do you ever ask yourself what motivates you to get stuff done? Is it checking off your to-do lists (which, let’s be honest–feels really good) or love (which feels even better)? When we’re indebted to one another only in love, we fulfill the law (Rom 13:8,10).
If you struggle with procrastinating, consider how you can get things done for God’s glory and the good of others. Here are 20 verses to help us steward our time well for God’s glory!
Bible Verses to Help with Procrastination
- Proverbs 13:4 (ESV)
The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. - Ephesians 5:15 (ESV)
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. - Proverbs 24:33-34 (ESV)
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. - Ecclesiastes 11:4 (ESV)
He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. - Proverbs 20:4 (ESV)
The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing. - Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV)
For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. - John 9:4 (ESV)
We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. - Matthew 6:34 (ESV)
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. - Ecclesiastes 9:10 (ESV)
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. - James 4:17 (ESV)
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. - Proverbs 14:23 (ESV)
In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. - Proverbs 18:9 (ESV)
Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys. - Proverbs 27:1 (ESV)
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. - Proverbs 24:30-31 (ESV)
I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. - Luke 9:59-62 (ESV)
To another, he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” - Proverbs 3:28 (ESV)
Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you. - Psalm 119:60 (ESV)
I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments. - Colossians 4:5 (ESV)
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. - Hebrews 3:7 (ESV)
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness.” - James 4:13-15 (ESV)
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
Your time is not your own
Moses prayed that God would help him number his days to gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12). We need to take this disciplined approach to our time, too. In his book Habits of Grace, author David Mathis said, “Perhaps more than ever we need to hear from our loving Father the hard but happy reminder of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tailored to our planning: Your time is not your own. You were bought with a price. So glorify me in your schedule.”
Cara
Related Posts:
Perhaps no one was a more conscientious time-manager than Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards. Consider his 70 resolutions in this post.
Do you need to redeem your mornings? Find encouragement here.
P.S. Do you want to redeem your leisure time in the Word? Check out this free resource!
