The Danger of Procrastination
(10 to 15 Minute Read)
“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have succoured thee [I have looked after you]: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,” 2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV).
According to the Bible, we have all sinned against God and have fallen short of His glory, and the payment for our sins is spiritual death; that means eternal separation from God because God would never be joined with sinners in heaven. God only allows the righteous in heaven, and the only way a person can ever be righteous is by receiving the righteousness of Jesus, which happens when we receive Him as our Lord and savior.
God has provided a way to heaven by sending His only begotten Son to die in our place to pay the penalty for our sins and to impute His righteousness: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” Romans 5:8 (KJV).
It is common for people to procrastinate in matters of most importance, particularly in the matter of their eternal salvation. Preparation is essential in every phase of life, but when it comes to preparing for the future of your eternal soul, there is no more important matter. I want to share with you today some extremely urgent reasons why you should not put off another minute preparing for the life to come:
First, you may never have another opportunity: God says in Genesis 6:3, “…My spirit shall not always strive with man.” Today I read this story of Aaron Burr, the vice-president of the United States to Thomas Jefferson: “Aaron Burr was the third vice-president of the United States. At age nineteen he was a brilliant student at Princeton University. In those days, a revival broke out on campus, and Aaron was deeply convicted. He went to one of his teachers and told him his dilemma. The teacher gave him a Bible and told him to go back to his room and settle the matter with God on his knees. Aaron tried to shake off the conviction. He went back to his room, and all right, in desperation, he cried out, “God, if you let me alone, I’ll promise to let you alone. And later, Aaron said it was at that moment that all conviction left him. Years later, a good friend tried to introduce him to the Saviour, but cold sweat poured from of his forehead as he recounted to his friend how at the age of nineteen, he had asked God to let him alone. It was then that he said, ‘I never had one slight feeling ever since that I should become a child of God.’”
Today, if you desire to know God and have a relationship with Him, that is the Holy Spirit inviting you to come to Jesus. If you decide to put it off, you may never receive the invitation again. The message of the Holy Spirit is the most urgent message you will ever hear. He says to the lost, “come and be saved today.” On the other hand, Satan says, “that is okay, but you can wait until tomorrow.” InProverbs 27:1 (KJV), the Bible says, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” If you keep telling yourself maybe tomorrow, the time will come when there will be no tomorrow, and your opportunity for salvation will be gone forever.
Second, the longer you put salvation off, the harder your heart gets: “Today if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts,” Hebrews 3:15 (KJV). Every time a person puts off the Gospel invitation, whether they be a man, woman, boy, or girl, their heart becomes hardened just a little more. The Bible says, “Exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin,” Hebrews 3:13 (KJV).
The advantage a child has is a tender heart. The worst danger in putting off salvation is the hardening of the heart. The person who continues in their sin becomes accustomed to sin and ignores the call of the Holy Spirit of God, and their heart becomes calloused and hardened over time.
Below is a graph showing the age people come to Christ for salvation; notice the percentage is less and less as people grow older. According to the graph below, the vast majority, 95%, of those saved are saved from childhood to age 30. That leaves only 5% from that age forward who will ever receive salvation and will die in their sins to Face God in Judgment.
Don’t be discouraged if you are over 30 and not saved because it is not too late if you have the desire. I have friends who were saved in their 70s and 80s.
The Holy Spirit calls people of all ages. The mistake people often make is that they can decide at any time to be saved. We used to sing a song; I don’t hear it anymore: “I have decided to follow Jesus.” I suppose the reason we don’t sing it anymore is, people get the idea from that song salvation is a matter of when you decide. The fact is, salvation follows the invitation of the Holy Spirit and not when we decide. It is only possible to be saved when the Holy Spirit invites you. In your mind, can you feel the Holy Spirit inviting you now? If you can, don’t put it off. There is an old hymn we used to sing, and I don’t know why we don’t hear it anymore, that encourages you not to wait:
“Jesus is tenderly calling you home—
Calling today, calling today,
Why from the sunshine of love will you roam
Farther and farther away?
Calling today, calling today,
Jesus is calling, is tenderly calling today.
Jesus is calling the weary to rest—
Calling today, calling today,
Bring Him your burden, and you shall be blest;
He will not turn you away.
Jesus is waiting, oh, come to Him now—
Waiting today, waiting today,
Come with your sins, at His feet lowly bow;
Come, and no longer delay.
Jesus is pleading, oh, list to His voice:
Hear Him today, hear Him today,
They who believe on His name shall rejoice;
Quickly arise and away. -Broadman hymnal
The Holy Spirit of God is seeking those who are lost and convicting them of their need, warning them, and striving with them to come to Jesus today. The Bible says, “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near,” Isaiah 55:6 (KJV). Today, are you concerned about the welfare of your eternal soul? If so, this is your day for salvation. Come to Jesus now while He is near and can be found. The call of the Holy Spirit may never come to you again.
In the words of a poet, we see the urgency of salvation and how easy it is to be drawn away by the world:
“There’s a line that is drawn by rejecting the Lord,
where the call of the Spirit is lost;
as you hurry along with the pleasure-mad throng,
have you counted, have you counted the cost?”
Third, the imminent return of Jesus: All the prophecies of Scripture concerning the second coming of Christ have been fulfilled. Imminent means that Jesus could return at any moment. The promise of Scripture is, “This same Jesus who is taken up from you shall so come again.” Acts 1:11 (KJV). Jesus will come and call His church to meet Him in the air. “Those who are alive (in Christ) will be ‘caught up together with them,’ 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (KJV). If you are not “alive in Christ,” a believer, you will be left behind. Although I’m not adamant about this, after the second coming of Jesus, there may never be another chance for you to be saved.
God has a timetable, and the clock is ticking away. Time is running out, and your opportunities for salvation are growing fewer and fewer. Decide now not to waste another day; trust in Jesus now to forgive your sins and receive His promise of eternal life.
Fourth, the certainty of death: We hang on to life by a thread, only a heartbeat away from death. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” Hebrews 9:27 (KJV). Sometimes we make our plans for tomorrow, little knowing what tomorrow might bring. The Bible says, “Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.” According toJames 4:14 (KJV), life is so uncertain, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
Little do most realize how fragile their life is. I know when you are young, life seems like it will go on forever, but it is as fragile as a blade of grass that quickly withers away. “It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment.” One day each person will come to the inescapable appointment with death. Life will be gone; the body will draw cold and be buried where it will turn to dust. The person you once were will be gone forever. Please don’t put your salvation off any longer. Nowhere does the Bible speak of salvation other than for today. The Bible says, “Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” Isaiah 1:18 (KJV). Are you ready today to reason with God about your eternal future?
The death angel appeared to the rich man of Luke’s gospel and said to him who was preparing for tomorrow by building larger barns to store his goods, “… Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” Luke 12:20 (KJV). How foolish it is to spend a lifetime gathering those things that will pass away and ignore the eternal soul. We read in Psalm 103:15-16 (KJV), “As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 16For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
What is the one thing standing in your way today from becoming a believer? Ask yourself, is it more valuable than your eternal soul? The Bible says, “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37 (KJV). You stand at the fork of the road today, and you will have to make a choice. What will your choice be? Will it be for Jesus or against Him? Jesus stands ready, right now, to add your name to the book of life and assure you that you will spend all eternity in His presence. Please don’t throw it away and miss this opportunity. I want to show, right now, from God’s word exactly how to receive Jesus as your savior: CLICK HERE.
Please share this article with a lost friend or relative.