Procrastinator yells "Lion!"

"There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets," says the lazy one. Proverbs 22:13 The Message: "The loafer says, "There's a lion on the loose! If I go out I'll be eaten alive!"

As I read this scripture and think about my stalls I wonder what part of my procrastination is like this sluggard. Could it be my laziness at moments is based on my fears of my imagination?

I've read several commentaries and the wise writers conclude that this proverb is warning us against misusing our imaginations to justify putting off what needs doing now. In this instance this guy tells everyone there "could be" a lion in the street....he doesn't see one except in his own mind. No one will approve of his staying in his "safe place" all day because he's lazy or timid. To mask his laziness he shifts the focus away from the truth to an illusion of lions.

The sooner I just jump into whatever needs to be done I'm always surprised at how simple it is to do. Whatever I thought was legitimate reason for putting it off turns out to be nothing but my own exaggerated mind games. My fears set off my mind games and then the laziness kicks in and the two keep me trapped in the procrastination cycle.

King Solomon further points out , "The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can give a discreet answer."Proverbs 26:16 Judging from the first verse of the vivid imagination of the sluggard I'm believing this shows how the habitual procrastinator resists any truth that will expose their main problem. He must insist that his own answer is better: There is a lion in the street. He must keep his main issue covered up. Self-justification is the enemy of progress in all relationships; but especially in our relationship with God.

I'm giving up "lion" protective mindsets. I am doing the next thing that needs doing and believing whatever I feared is really a friendly house cat!