Bible Study Week 1: Conquering Procrastination

kweenameena

Well-Known Member
Welcome Ladies to our first LHCF Bible Study!!!!!
This week's topic is: Conquering Procrastination

Please feel free to post your questions, scriptures, testimonies, etc.. regarding conquering procrastination. And what the bible says about procrastination.

To start us off.....here are some questions to ponder:

What does it mean to procrastinate?

Is procrastination a sin?

Why do we procrastinate?

Did Jesus ever procrastinate?

How do you conquer procrastination?
 
Here's a verse about procrastination that I found:
Proverbs 6:6-11 (New International Version)
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest-
11 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.
 
My thoughts on why I procrastinate:
I think a lot of my procrastination stems from a fear of failure.
I sometimes don't begin things because I'm afraid of a negative outcome.
So it can be easier to convince myself that it's not worth starting it/trying it at all. I'm sure that this is also showing a lack of trust in God to provide and take care of me.

Procrastination has caused me to put off school, not lose weight, not clean up sometimes. Because I haven't gone back to school yet...I've become stifled in my career. I'm working on not being a procrastinator.
 
What does it mean to procrastinate? It means to me that you allow your fear to take over you to the point that you would rather sit still and succeed at nothing rather than try and fail at something.

Is procrastination a sin? Life is too short not to try. I am sure there is a scripture that eludes to procrastination or not living up to your God given potential is a sin.

Why do we procrastinate? Fear of flying

Did Jesus ever procrastinate? Not to my knowledge

How do you conquer procrastination? I pray about it, and then I try to jump on it. For example, the gym. I need to lose 40 pounds. I stalled on going back to the gym for months because I was embarassaed about my body, I didn't think I had the right gym clothes, the other people looking thin made my feel fatter. Something in my spirit one day made me get up and go to the gym at 6 AM! I got on the treadmill and started. I haven't looked back. I have lost 4 pounds so far, and I will keep going. My body is a temple that I was neglecting for too long.
I just had to walk out on faith that things would work out. Now, on to my exams and relationships...let faith guide me there.

kweenameena-I hope you continue this thread every week. I will contribute as well as I can, and see where it goes...
blessings...
 
kweenameena-I hope you continue this thread every week. I will contribute as well as I can, and see where it goes...
blessings...
Nappysunflowers....I plan to continue our bible studiy threads every week.
Thank you for the encouragement, sis!!
I really needed and appreciated it.

Feel free to post some ideas and topics in the original thread. I just started for now and I'll let the kinks work themselves out. Soon we'll have a great formula on conducting a bible study on a message board!

Thanks for participating
 
I just wanted to say kweenameena, this was right on time for me! My answers are in purple
What does it mean to procrastinate?I believe procrastination is putting off for tomorrow what you can accomplish today (now).

Is procrastination a sin? I wouldn't say procrastination in and of itself is a sin, but I think it "gives rise" to sin, because if it prevails it leads you not to complete an assignment, which could or could not have to do with the path God has put on you. However, here's an excerpt from website that says it is a sin

http://www.gospelcenterchurch.org/procrastination.html
PROCRASTINATION IS SIN

Notice in Luke 14:21 (So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. ) that the Master was 'ANGRY' at the procrastination and excuses of the servants!
My friend, if we continue to PROCRASTINATE and delay in surrendering our lives to God, How can we expect God to continue to bless us?
We wonder why we have no peace and joy?


Why do we procrastinate? I think we procrastinate for a variety of reasons. Sometimes we procrastinate because we just don't want to do something (i.e. writing a paper for class, getting out of bed to get ready for work, etc.). Sometimes I think we feel that whatever we are doing at the present time is more important (even if it is not).

However, I think that many people who really struggle with procrastination have other issues. I'll put myself out there. There is something that God has put on my heart to do. I've been steadily working on this assignment, but I've procrastinated (or put off) certain aspects of it, because I don't know how I will be able to do these things. This is where procrastination can turn into sin. See, if we doubt, it's like saying we don't trust God. And God knows the end from the beginning, so even if you are not sure how you will accomplish something, trust God and let him work out the details:yep:

Did Jesus ever procrastinate? Good question! I wouldn't say he "procrastinated" although we don't have information on his developmental years, so it's possible. However, at the end of his life, he fell to the ground and Mark 14:35-36 "Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 'Abba, Father,' he said, 'everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.'

How do you conquer procrastination? I think that you must trust God and keep prayer and communication with Him, especially when you are struggling. God doesn't expect us to be perfect IMO, but He does expect us to TRY:yep:
 
Is it still procrastination if you start and don't finish? That's my problem. I jump into things wholeheartedly and passionately and kind of just stop.

I need to know how to conquer procrastination. There are some things that I need to do but haven't...I just don't have the energy.
 
What does it mean to procrastinate?

Procrastination is the opposition of initiative because they both come down to a choice to either "do" something or "not do" something. One example of procrastination comes from Matthew 25:14-30. Verses 25-26 sum it up saying, "And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, [there] thou hast [that is] thine. His lord answered and said unto him, [Thou] wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:" (KJV)

Is procrastination a sin?

Yes, it is considered as slothful. God made work for us to do. Even in the Garden of Eden, it was man's "job" to tend the Garden. Genesis 2:15 says, "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (KJV)
So when we do something in opposition of God, then it is a sin. 1 John 3:4 says, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." (KJV)


Why do we procrastinate?

It is a desire of our flesh. It is a part of our sinful nature to want what we want and not what God wants. That is of course until we learn to submit to God. Jeremiah 17:9 says this about our nature, "The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?"(KJV) Still, there is hope in Jeremiah 17:7 which says, "Blessed [is] the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is." (KJV)

Did Jesus ever procrastinate?

No. I can't find an example of Jesus procrastinating.

How do you conquer procrastination?

Learn to do everything for the glory and purpose of God. Work on your job as though you are working directly for God. Keep your home and family in order as though you are doing it to please God.

Acts 13:22 says, "And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the [son] of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." (KJV)


When we work to please God, then we put ourselves in his will and we become a living testimony of his word.

Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it." (KJV)
 
I personally have had a love hate relationship with procrastination for years. I know how to overcome it, but as a procrastinator, I still fall back into it from time to time. daephae, I'm like you. I will start something with all the passion and gumption that is needed, but I usually end up burning myself out too soon and eventually stop. I would love to be a person who is always effective and takes the initiative to start and finish things that need to be done.

Procrastination has caused me to put off school, not lose weight, not clean up sometimes. Because I haven't gone back to school yet...I've become stifled in my career. I'm working on not being a procrastinator.

You and I sound a lot alike. Do you know what you would like to go to school for? Do you ever find that when you have to do something for someone else that it is easier than doing something for your own benefit?
 
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:blush: Wow! Talk about conviction.

I keep a to do list, and I've been dismissing and postponing many things lately. I need to get it together. I need to follow up on important stuff, but I don't feel like tackling it because it's a little overwhelming.

Good thread.
 
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My pastor has been discussing this verse for the past couple of weeks and it is so powerful to me. It's about struggling with sin. But for me, it was symbolic of my struggle with procrastination.
Romans 7;14-23
14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
 
You and I sound a lot alike. Do you know what you would like to go to school for? Do you ever find that when you have to do something for someone else that it is easier than doing something for your own benefit?
I know what I want to go to school for. I've been telling myself...as soon as my husband gets out of the army and gets a job that can support us..I will go to school. Now guess what....it is happening and I have so much fear in my heart that I can't even bring myself to go to the school's website anymore. My problem is that I don't know how to take things one step at a time. So I become overwhelmed before I begin. Also, I have thoughts that tell me "what if you don't do well in college like you didn't do well in highschool". I struggle with my doubts.

My pastor preached that a lot of our procrastination comes from thinking that Good Intention = Obedience to God's commands.
I think that sometimes I feel good that I have the intention to do something. I pat myself on the back for "being on the right path" and "having a plan". But I never actually walk down that path or execute that plan. And I become complacent with just "intending" to do something. But where is my follow-thru? I have none right now.
Or it's easy for me to make excuses of why I can't do that thing right now.....I'll do it when I have time, when I have the money...I'll lose weight once I joined that gym or get that treadmill.
Having good intentions is not enough!
 
My pastor has been discussing this verse for the past couple of weeks and it is so powerful to me. It's about struggling with sin. But for me, it was symbolic of my struggle with procrastination.
Romans 7;14-23
14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.


Praise God for his word. Through our salvation through Jesus Christ, we can learn to become obedient to the spiritual laws.
 
I know what I want to go to school for. I've been telling myself...as soon as my husband gets out of the army and gets a job that can support us..I will go to school. Now guess what....it is happening and I have so much fear in my heart that I can't even bring myself to go to the school's website anymore. My problem is that I don't know how to take things one step at a time. So I become overwhelmed before I begin. Also, I have thoughts that tell me "what if you don't do well in college like you didn't do well in highschool". I struggle with my doubts.

My pastor preached that a lot of our procrastination comes from thinking that Good Intention = Obedience to God's commands.
I think that sometimes I feel good that I have the intention to do something. I pat myself on the back for "being on the right path" and "having a plan". But I never actually walk down that path or execute that plan. And I become complacent with just "intending" to do something. But where is my follow-thru? I have none right now.
Or it's easy for me to make excuses of why I can't do that thing right now.....I'll do it when I have time, when I have the money...I'll lose weight once I joined that gym or get that treadmill.
Having good intentions is not enough!


BTW: you started this thread, and you are following through with it. That's an accomplishment. A great one too because it is about God's Word.


e-hug. It is like you are speaking right out of my life. I thought I was the only person like this. Are you like this: get an idea, plan the whole thing out from start to finish, weigh the pros and cons, prepare to begin and then that evil monster doubt creeps in and starts telling you that "you can't possibly pull that off. It is too simple that it must be wrong. No one else could do that so why even bother"

I pat my self on the back too. I have become complacent with the ideas of grandure that I have. It is like, I feel like I am doing something by even dreaming the dream because I am surrounded by people who don't even know how to dream the dream.

You can do this. you can go back to school. I did it. I got my associates degree last May and went directly to school last July online to obtain my bachelor. In one of my classed we read a book by Stephen Covey called First Things First. It has made a difference in that it has helped me organize things in a way that is not so over-the-top. I can take bite sizes of accomplishments and work on them. I will pray for you and please pray for me that we can both overcome this issue with God's help.
 
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BTW: you started this thread, and you are following through with it. That's an accomplishment. A great one too because it is about God's Word.


e-hug. It is like you are speaking right out of my life. I thought I was the only person like this. Are you like this: get an idea, plan the whole thing out from start to finish, weigh the pros and cons, prepare to begin and then that evil monster doubt creeps in and starts telling you that "you can't possibly pull that off. It is too simple that it must be wrong. No one else could do that so why even bother"

I pat my self on the back too. I have become complacent with the ideas of grandure that I have. It is like, I feel like I am doing something by even dreaming the dream because I am surrounded by people who don't even know how to dream the dream.

You can do this. you can go back to school. I did it. I got my associates degree last May and went directly to school last July online to obtain my bachelor. In one of my classed we read a book by Stephen Covey called First Things First. It has made a difference in that it has helped me organize things in a way that is not so over-the-top. I can take bite sizes of accomplishments and work on them. I will pray for you and please pray for me that we can both overcome this issue with God's help.

Girl, Yes!!! Everything you described is me!! It's like I'm afraid to move. Sometimes we don't realize the power that God has given us. I can encourage/motivate others all day long...but when it comes to encouraging myself...I can't do it.

Not to continuously talk about my pastor, but I don't want to take credit where it isn't due....He spoke on how our parents reactions to our mistakes affect us today. I remember how my mother reacted/overreacted to my mistakes. So instead of being taught how to work out or deal with a problem...I've learned just to stay away from things that would cause that problem from happening again. It's almost like I fear that someone might have the same reaction she did. Part of becoming an adult is actually facing your problems head-on, dealing with them, and learning from them. Not learning how I should handle failure makes failing a fearful thing for me. This is also where self-doubt and a lack of faith in God to provide comes in. Not doing what God has put on your heart for you to do causes discontentedness (sp?). I will def. be teaching my daughter how to fail/fall. And how to get up again and still excel!
Procrastination to me seems to stem from self-loathing as well.

SuperNova,
Thanks so much for the encouragement. I will continuously pray for you as well. We WILL overcome this spirit of procrastination and fear!
 
Procrastination is the opposition of initiative because they both come down to a choice to either "do" something or "not do" something. One example of procrastination comes from Matthew 25:14-30. Verses 25-26 sum it up saying, "And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, [there] thou hast [that is] thine. His lord answered and said unto him, [Thou] wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:" (KJV)



Yes, it is considered as slothful. God made work for us to do. Even in the Garden of Eden, it was man's "job" to tend the Garden. Genesis 2:15 says, "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (KJV)
So when we do something in opposition of God, then it is a sin. 1 John 3:4 says, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." (KJV)




It is a desire of our flesh. It is a part of our sinful nature to want what we want and not what God wants. That is of course until we learn to submit to God. Jeremiah 17:9 says this about our nature, "The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?"(KJV) Still, there is hope in Jeremiah 17:7 which says, "Blessed [is] the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is." (KJV)



No. I can't find an example of Jesus procrastinating.



Learn to do everything for the glory and purpose of God. Work on your job as though you are working directly for God. Keep your home and family in order as though you are doing it to please God.

Acts 13:22 says, "And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the [son] of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." (KJV)


When we work to please God, then we put ourselves in his will and we become a living testimony of his word.

Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it." (KJV)

I like the scripture references.
 
My thoughts on why I procrastinate:
I think a lot of my procrastination stems from a fear of failure.
I sometimes don't begin things because I'm afraid of a negative outcome.
So it can be easier to convince myself that it's not worth starting it/trying it at all. I'm sure that this is also showing a lack of trust in God to provide and take care of me.

Procrastination has caused me to put off school, not lose weight, not clean up sometimes. Because I haven't gone back to school yet...I've become stifled in my career. I'm working on not being a procrastinator.

With the exception of the weight issue, I could have written everything else you wrote!

Great thread by the way :yep:
 
Oh wow! This topic is right on target with what I am going through right now. I am suffering from severe procrastination in studying for a huge exam I have coming up.

But I think I know the reason why I am procrastinating right now.....FEAR!

I will come back to comment more after I have read the rest of the thread and the readings that some of you have given.


Great thread!
 
What does it mean to procrastinate?


How do you conquer procrastination?

1. Procrastination (for me) is putting a task on hold in attempt so I do not have to face the reality of what has to be done. It is also not initiating or completing a task out of fear of the outcome/unknown results.

2. I have been trying to find a way to conquer this for years. So far I think the only answer I have (and that other people give me) is to pray about it......and although I think prayer does work I feel that most people use it in the acte situation - at the actual time they are procrastinating.
I think people who are chronic procrastinators (like myself) should include this in their daily prayer ALL THE TIME, because it can become a weekly/monthly struggle.
 
Here's a verse about procrastination that I found:
Proverbs 6:6-11 (New International Version)
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest-
11 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.

I feel like this scripture describes the extreme procrastinator that is more of a borderline lazy person. I guess it is possible for procrastination to get that extreme.


After reading this I feel as though there are different kinds of procrastinators. I feel as though I work really really hard and can get an excellent job done (unlike the lazy person described above) I think the problem is the initiation...better yet the motivation that drives to do the work we have to do.


Random questions:
Is it possible that a procrastinator is only lacking motivation? Does procrastination coincide with depression. Should someone who is always procrastinating be looking deeper to find the root of the problem? Is it possible to have good work ethics and still be a procrastinator about certain tasks?
 
Excellent topic..SO relevant in my life.
I posted in this in the Career Forum sometimeo ago ..I'll look it up ..about how as a self employed with a home office I was waking up at noon and later and later and not making outreach calls & marketing to support myself and my business until it was late in the day
and the days were slipping....I'd still be in my pjs
I got lot of support after posting :) I will say now..after much prayer...anguish.....and support
I am up now no later than 9am ... I get dressed as if going to a 9-5.
(alright ..a wee bit casual for 9-5..maybe a sari skirt and t-shirt)
but at least I'm out of the nightclothes!

I pray...read my bible ...go into my sweet lil office check emails and run out for my breakfast/coffee ..on the phone by 10:30am...:grin: that's my rule. When schools starts I will need to be on the phone by 8am

I was telling a bf this afternoon.how I had to establish a routine as a work discipline..and it's working .... I told him my entire routine..and I as I told him..realized ..as that routine evolved out of procrastination ..it did not come naturally. I've got one of my most important appearances this weekend...that came from diligent phone calls months ago
after workng through some HEAVY PROCRASTINATON
Coming back to this thread with bible verses and what I am currently procastinating over...
(hope that coming back instead of doing it now does not mean more procrastination .lol :grin:)

God bless
 
Welcome Ladies to our first LHCF Bible Study!!!!!
This week's topic is: Conquering Procrastination

Please feel free to post your questions, scriptures, testimonies, etc.. regarding conquering procrastination. And what the bible says about procrastination.

To start us off.....here are some questions to ponder:

What does it mean to procrastinate?
To put off what must be done now, not later.

Is procrastination a sin?
I do not think so but surely cannot be something God favors.

Why do we procrastinate?
Fear, laziness..only two reasons I can think of right now.

Did Jesus ever procrastinate?
I cannot think of any examples.

How do you conquer procrastination?
That is the question I need to find the answer for:perplexed.

Excellent verse to start to find the answer.
 
Psalm 119:60
I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.


love this verse below!

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! Exodus 14:15 (NLT) ...
They started crying out to God to save them. What did God do? In GENESIS 14:15 God said,. ‘Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to move on!’ ...


and of course,James the great-in-your-face
tell-it-like-it-is pragmatist
James 2 from the Message Bible

Faith in Action
14-17Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
18I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."

Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.

19-20Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?

21-24Wasn't our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"? The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?

25-26The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn't her action in hiding God's spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.


I'll be back!!
..I slept on this thread last night
and guess what? I was making calls by 8:30 am :grin:
 
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Ladies, I think a prayer to help us all with procrastination is in order.

Father God,
I pray in the name of Jesus that we are all loosed from the grasp of procrastination. I pray that God releases an abundance of his power to bolster up our own will power and motivation to "do" and "be" the best at everything that we attempt. I pray that we not fall to the negative talk that plagues us and keeps us from even starting a new thing or finishing an old thing. I pray that God will use us all as examples of initiative, persistence, and determination. I pray that we will all continue to lean on God and open up to his ability to help us to continually overcome the battle with procrastination. In Jesus' name I pray AMEN!
 
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