Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4:13-14
Just five more minutes, Mom. These were the words I said to my mother multiple times every morning before school. Of course, she knew that and would begin waking me thirty minutes before I had to begin getting ready. Thankfully, most of my procrastination simply leads to minor inconveniences when it finally catches up to me. Other times the price can be much higher.
Let us consider the danger of spiritual procrastination. We all have things to correct in our spiritual lives. It may be our prayer lives, our study habits, our treatment of our spouse or children, our care for the needy, or it may be some sinful practice we have long battled in our lives. Whatever the case may be for you, do it now! There is scarcely a topic more emphasized in the Bible than the brevity and uncertainty of life (Job 14:1-2; Ecclesiastes 12:1; 1 Peter 1:24-25; James 4:13-14). Jesus said "...Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you...while you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light" (John 12:35-36). Paul made it clear the day of salvation is now, tomorrow may be too late (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Many people sit in the borderland of the kingdom of God for years without ever obeying the gospel and coming into His fold. They give different reasons for this, but none is sufficient when the day of judgment arrives (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). The reality is no man comes to the Father except through the Son (John 14:6) as there are no spiritual blessings outside of Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Are you in Christ?
The Bible details in no uncertain terms the way we enter into Christ. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are baptized into Him (Galatians 3:26-27). Romans 6:2-6 frames this in terms of putting to death the old man by being buried with Christ in baptism. From these passages it is evident we are placed "in Christ" where there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1), when we place our faith in His blood and submit to the ordinance of baptism. Once we are in Christ, His blood continually cleanses us if we "...walk in the light as He is in the light" (1 John 1:7). This is the essence of being a new creation in Christ as we walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
The sense of urgency to obey the gospel and be baptized into Christ is seen in all the conversion accounts in the book of Acts. They did not wait weeks or even months to obey this simple directive. They were baptized on the spot (cf. Acts 8:35-38; 16:30-33). They understood there was no salvation outside Jesus Christ and moved immediately to be found in Him. Remember, in the time it took you to read this article, roughly 250 people died. As the old saying goes, "Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today." Do not be like Felix in Acts 24:24-25 who heard the gospel from Paul only to tell Paul to go away until he called him at a more convenient time. We have no guarantee of such a time. Let us be sure to avoid the peril of procrastination as our eternal souls are on the line. Are you in Christ? Are you walking in the light of His word? If not, do not waste another moment of this brief earth life.