DO IT NOW!

J osh 18:3
3 And J oshua said unto the children of I srael, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land,
which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?
KJ V
One translation says, how long are you going to wait? (Many of hide under the umbrella of
waiting on the Lord). But the truth is we are just procrastinating doing what the Lord has already
told us to do.
1 (J os 18:2-3) tells us (There were 7 tribes who had not taken possession of their inheritance).
Would your name be listed among those tribes?
2 Joshua tells us that it was not a weakness or a failure on Gods part that they had not taken
possession of their inheritance, but a slackness and slothfulness on their part. (2 Pe.3:9) tells us;
The Lord is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count slackness. (In other-words he
is not slow like we are).
3 Joshua was not like many today who have reached retirement in the Lord. Now Joshua was
old and stricken and the LORD said, There is land that yet remaineth to be conquered (J osh
13:1-2). The Lord told me to tell you this morning that some of you need to come out of
retirement and go after your inheritance.
Introduction:
1 (J osh 18:3) So Joshua said to the Israelites: "How long will you wait before you begin to
take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you? Do It Now!
2 We so often speak negative about the Israelites wondering in the wilderness for forty years,
but the truth is, we have all been slack in possessing what God our Father has given us.
3 Could the same question be ask to you and I today. How long are ye slack? Could it be that
God is saying to us today. Do It Now. Go and possess your inheritance.
The Bible gives us five actions we can take to stop procrastinating:
Stop making excuses.
J er 1:4-8
4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb
I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I , Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send
thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
KJ V
1... Excuses, excuses, we hear them all the time. (Dont make excuses, do it now).
2 In the Christian world, we can find all sorts of excuses not to obey God's voice: "It's the
preacher's job." "It's not my gift." "I've already served, let someone else do it." "I'm too busy or
too tired or too old or too young."
3 Ben Franklin wrote, "He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else."
4 Jeremiah made the excuse in (J er.1:6) "Oh no, Lord, GOD! Look, I don't know how to
speak since I am only a youth.'" Jeremiah felt inadequate as a public speaker. By the way, this
excuse was shared by Moses also in (Ex. 4:10).
5 Our talent may appear inadequate, but God always equips those he calls.
6 The excuse: The time is not right. Jeremiah said to God, "I am only a youth" (J er. 1:6).
7 God's call may come at an inopportune time, but he never sends forth his servant alone. We
have the promise of God's presence. This is the LORD's declaration" (J er. 1:7-8). "Then the
LORD said to me: Do not say, I am only a youth,' for you will go to everyone I send you to and
speak whatever I tell you. Do not be afraid of anyone, for I will be with you to deliver you.
8 The excuse: Do I have to go now? God was expecting immediate action from Jeremiah. God
said to Jeremiah in (J er.1:17), "Now, get ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I
command you." In Jeremiah's day the men had to tie their loose robes together with a belt in
order to run or to work. Jeremiah was in for a struggle. He had a fight on his hands. So the phrase
"dress yourself for work" or "gird up your loins" was a metaphor that meant "Get ready for
action!" Today we would say, "Roll up your sleeves!" Today God is saying, Do It Now.
Ex 3:11
11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I , that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should
bring forth the children of I srael out of Egypt?
KJ V
9 Here we find that Moses first concern is that he is a "nobody and is therefore unqualified to
go to Pharaoh and demand the release of the Lords people. (Many in the church feel this same
way! We feel that we arent as qualified as someone else, or that we just dont have the ability to
get the job done properly. Yet, in haste to give up before we ever start, we forget one important
truth God chose us! To say we arent able to do the job says that God doesnt know what He is
doing! After all, who knows best, you or God?).
10 Today I encourage you to stop making excuses, Do It Now. What have you been saying
youre going to do one of these days? What do you make excuses about? The number one
excuse I hear is, When things settle down, then Im going to ... Things will never settle down.
You must make a choice to prioritize what is important.
Start today:
1 Not next month, next week, or tomorrow. Do It Now.
J ames 4:13-17
13 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:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? I t is even a
vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, I f the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
KJ V
2 None of us is guaranteed a tomorrow.
Establish a planned schedule.
1 (Proverbs 13:16) says, Every wise person acts with good sense, but fools show how foolish
they are. If you fail to plan, youre planning to fail.
2 You need to designate some specific time slots each week for the things you need to do.
3 The Bible says without a vision the people perish. Do you have a vision? Do you have a
plan?
Face your fears.
1 Youve heard it said, Courage is not the absence of fear; its moving ahead in spite of our
fears.
2 The Bible says there is nothing you cannot master with the help of Christ who gives you
strength.
J osh 10:25
25 And J oshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for
thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
KJ V
Focus on what you gain, not the pain.
1 There are very few things in life that are easy. You must push through the frustration and
look at the gain beyond the pain. Concentrate on how good youre going to feel once youve
finished the task.
2 (Galatians 6:9) says, "So lets not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we
will reap a harvest of blessing if we dont give up."
3 Jesus never said life would be easy. There will be sacrifice and commitment. But there is
tremendous reward when we do the things he calls us to do.
4 Dont ask, What do I feel like doing? Instead ask, What does God want me to do?
Conclusion:
Here are some of the problems with procrastination:
Procrastination reveals a deeper problem.
1 Many times there is a deeper reason that we are not doing something that we know needs to
be done.
2 God has given us so much, life, love, grace, each other and TIME. We are to be good
stewards of the time we have been given
Procrastination is the cause of many failures:
1 (Prov 10:4-5) says; Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. (Vs5)
says, He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a
disgraceful son.
2 How many of us have missed out on an opportunity because we put it off?
So many times God presents us an opportunity and we say, When I get to it
Procrastination leads to an unproductive lifestyle:
Procrastination is simply laziness and it leads to a life that will never experience fulfillment.