Among his axioms for personal living, Thomas Jefferson (president of the United States 1801-1809) listed this one: “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”
The principle warns against procrastination by urging you to take care of day-to-day responsibilities immediately – tasks like household chores, paying the bills, calling a sick friend.
Image: Savvy Sugar
But timeliness is biblical, too (Luke 12:40, Hebrews 3: 12-13, James 4:13-14). In particular, Christ-followers tend to put off one certain task … and it is not the decision to follow Christ.
When God offers you an opportunity to access His power, you may procrastinate.
Martha did.
God’s Promises Are Not Only in the Future Tense
By the time Jesus arrived in Bethany, His friend Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days (John 11).
“If you had been here, my brother would not have died,” Martha said to Jesus. “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask… I know (my brother) will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Notice that Martha uses the future tense. She expresses faith in what God will do at a later date.
Her faith in what God will do is admirable. It is true that God will act in powerful ways in the future. Yet there’s a problem with Martha’s put-off. It did not tell the whole story.
Jesus’s offer for change was not just for later, but for right then.
God’s Promises are in the Present Tense
Jesus responded to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life” (v. 25). His self-identification is in present tense.
As they moved to Lazarus’s tomb, Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” He called Lazarus out of the grave at that instant.
Martha didn’t need to wait until some distant point in the future in order to experience what God would do. Jesus was active in the situation at that moment.
He is active today, too.
God’s promises to you are in the present tense. His power, ability, and glory are available to you – in the future, but also today. God revealed our immediate access to Him when the temple’s curtain was torn from top to bottom at Jesus’ death (Matthew 27:51).
You may be tempted to procrastinate in accessing His power because of fear, uncertainty, apathy, ignorance, or a host of other excuses.
Learn from Martha’s put-off. Access God’s power now, each day.
Don’t let procrastination rob you of God’s movement in your life today.
