Next time I'm tempted to procrastinate...

If only we wanted to do the things that were good for us, rather than the things that are easy and fun.

There's a stack of things on my to-do list, and here I am, writing in my blog. I could be doing one of the work things that comprises the major part of my list. Or working out. Or cleaning my house. Or...

But I'm not. Procrastination seems to be what I'm good at.

Once I get started in a project, it's not so bad. And recently, a co-worker told me to handle the elephant on my list at the start of the day, and other things will come easier.

I handled the elephant on my list at 5:30 this morning. And here it is, 3:00 in the afternoon, and I'm not through the list.

I've always been somewhat of a procrastinator, but the internet, email and social media have made it so much worse. That many distractions could take up my whole day. And I could rationalize that checking my email and updating our social media IS my work. But that explains about 30 minutes.

While Paul didn't have social media or email to worry about, he was a writer. And a fairly proficient, prolific writer at that. I think he probably wrote a lot more letters than ever made it into the Bible. You know, not everything you write receives critical acclaim. So I imagine that Paul probably wrote other correspondence to churches that wasn't so uplifting. Perhaps he really reamed some of them out. Or he whined about how his ministry was going. Those letters probably didn't fit in with his first and second letters to the church at Corinth, his epistle to Ephesus, his memo to Philemon (c'mon, it's not even a full page in the Bible), and of course, his magnum opus, his letter to the Romans.

It's there in Romans that makes me think Paul would have understood this blog. Romans 7:15 -- "I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate."

Well, I don't hate writing. Or going and checking my Facebook, or getting a snack. But I do hate it later, when I account for what I haven't done. It's not what is right, as Paul explained it in another letter. Colossians 3:23 -- "Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." What a guilt trip. Whether or not anyone else realizes I'm procrastinating, the One who counts does. I'm really doing my work for Him. If I'm not accomplishing what I should, I'm shorting Him my time in the work He's placed before me.

Convicted.

So, in that light, I'm wrapping up this blog. And getting back to the to-do list. Not my list. Not just my work list or chore list. My list for Him.