Free Grace Women

The Bee Story

When my son, James, was five years old, I was watering the flower bed under his window. I noticed a bee going into a hole at the base of the window sill. I thought, “That needs to be filled in before we have a problem.” Three days later my husband was mowing the front lawn, James was riding his trike in the driveway, and I was raking when I noticed a black cloud-like formation coming into our yard. The formation settled around the hole on the window sill. It was bees! The bee I saw three days earlier had been a bee scout. The formation was a swarm of bees with the queen at its center. They settled into the wall beside my son’s bed. I do not know if you have ever heard a hive of bees but it is frightening. The wall was even warm to the touch. Of course, my son moved into our room to sleep. We had to hire a professional beekeeper to remove the bees which also ended the lives of many of those bees. So how did a tiny inconvenience change to that traumatic and costly event? I have one word to explain why: procrastination. If I had dealt with the small hole when I noticed it there would not have been a problem. 

The Sticky Temptation

Procrastination is the act of intentionally putting off doing something that should be done. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to procrastinate implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy. How often do we say or hear these words: “Later,” “In a sec,” “Wait a min,” “Not now,” or “I’ll do it tomorrow”? They easily glide off our tongues without a thought of any consequences. We all have days when we must put things off, but making it a habit is not what the Lord desires of His children. 

The Sting of Consequences

There are many verses in the Bible that describe the lazy or slothful man. These verses are usually a comparison to the upright man. 

Let us look at a few of these verses and note the consequences of procrastinating.

“The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor.” Proverbs 12:24 (NKJV) 

We can see that the lazy man will not benefit by being lazy, he will have to toil more through force. The diligent will be blessed. As a teacher, I saw many students work harder to put off doing an assigned task, thinking they would somehow be released from completing it.  They still ended up having to complete the task while the diligent students were able to go to recess or go home without homework. 

In Proverbs 24:30-34, Solomon tells the story of a slothful man. As he passes the man’s field, he observes that it is overgrown with thorns and the wall is broken down. It will not grow good fruit. His life will be filled with poverty and want as Solomon concludes in verses 33-34. “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.” 

The next example illustrates how the procrastinator justifies his laziness.  

“The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.” Proverbs 22:13 

How absurd for him to say, “I cannot go to work today because I might be eaten by a lion.” 

The apostle Paul exhorts believers in Romans 12:11 to not be slothful in business but to be fervent in spirit and to serve the Lord. Whatever our business, whether we are a homemaker or the president of a company, we are to serve the Lord to the best of our ability. 

The Sweet Honey 

 Often in my childhood days, my mother would tell me to stop procrastinating. My procrastination was partly due to being a perfectionist. If I could not do a task perfectly then why do it at all? I still have battles with these bad habits but God has helped me to see the error in my ways. Since the fall of man, nothing on this earth is perfect. I must remember that only God is perfect and we are only perfect in His sight through His Son, Jesus. 

II Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (NIV) 

How should we respond to our daily tasks? The apostle Paul admonishes us in Colossians 3:17 that whatever we do in word or deed to do so in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He continues in verses 23-24 “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” If we have an attitude of diligence then we will avoid being slothful or a procrastinator. Our actions will please the Lord and we will be gaining eternal rewards. We will also be an example to others. This is the sweet honey, the fruit of our labors, that all faithful believers will earn in the kingdom to come. 

The writer of Hebrews tells the persecuted believers to apply the doctrine they know “today” so their hearts would not be hardened.

“Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Hebrews 4:7 

Do not put off till tomorrow what God has planned for today. James 4:14 “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.” (NKJV)

In conclusion, we should be diligent each day that is given to us to serve the Lord because He is good. 

“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgements of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them is great reward.” Psalm 19:9-11 

Unless otherwise cited all verses are from the King James Version