“Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” (Proverbs 27:1)

The sin of procrastination may not be one of the so-called “seven deadly sins,” but it may come close if it involves neglecting to do what God has clearly commanded us to do. Sins of omission may well be as serious in many cases as sins of commission. The Bible warns: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

To the professing Christian who deliberately goes against God’s will, either by neglect or intent, Jesus warns: “And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes” (Luke 12:47). This was spoken in the context of a parable, but the message was clear that it is dangerous to ignore God’s revealed will.

The principle even applies in the secular realm. “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow 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” (James 4:13-14).

The most dangerous sin of procrastination, of course, is neglecting to come to Christ for forgiveness and salvation. As Paul stressed: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Ignoring God while fully involved in pleasure or business or anything else is at least presumptuous. To the rich man in Christ’s parable who had spent his life concentrating on accumulating goods, God said: “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:20). We do not know what even one tomorrow may bring, so we need to “walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5). HMM