IS GOD INCLUDED IN YOUR PLAN

 INCLUDING GOD IN OUR PLANS

 (LUKE 12: 13 – 21)

INTRODUCTION

“Plan” means a series of steps to be carried out, or goals to be accomplished. Our lives are spent in making plans and struggling to carry them out. We make short-term and long-term plans and look forward to them materializing. Most times our plans do not work out because they are selfish and self-serving without God. That is why the parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12: 16 – 21 is very instructive.

About the Rich Fool:

1.   He was abundantly blessed by God as evident in his rich harvest (verse 16).

2.   He acknowledged his material blessing, but did not acknowledge the One who blessed him (verse 17).

3.   He made plans for himself alone (verse 18). Even then, he only planned for the flesh, and not for the eternal benefit of his soul (Matt. 16: 26).

4.   He completely shut God and others out of his plans (verse 19).

5.   He was called a fool; he received instant punishment for his foolishness (verse 20).

Beloved, we must know that just as we have plans for our lives, God also has plans for our lives. For example, God wants us to be saved and stay saved. He wants us to serve Him and have a life of fulfilment and joy. That is why we must take God into consideration when we make plans for our lives.

Unlike the Rich Fool, we must include God in our plans because:

1.   God owns us and everything we have (1 Cor. 4: 7; 6: 19, 20).

2.   We can do nothing without God (John 15: 5).

3.   Except the Lord intervenes and guides our affairs in life our effort will be futile (Psalm 127: 1, 2).

4.   He will only direct the paths of those who acknowledge Him (Prov. 3: 6; Jer. 10: 23).

5.   He prospers those who are rich towards Him (Prov. 3: 9, 10), but withdraws His favour from those who disregard Him (Luke 12: 21).

6.   Having been crucified with Christ, we no longer live for ourselves but Christ (Gal. 2: 20).

7.   When we involve the Lord in our affairs, He will intervene in our temptations (1 Cor. 10: 13).

Let us note that:

1.   Between worshipping God and pursuing our businesses, if we always choose the latter we are saying that our successes depend only on our personal struggles.

2.   If we pursue pleasure when we should be worshipping God, we are saying that God is not worthy of our time.

3.   If we refuse to give to God for His projects, we are saying that God should look elsewhere for what He needs because we cannot help Him.

4.   When we embark on a journey without calling on God, we are simply saying that God is not needed on that journey; He should just wait for us at home.

5.   If we take our problems to idols and agents of darkness for solution rather than God, we are saying that there is no God (2 Kings 1: 2, 3).

6.   If we refuse to open the door of our hearts for Christ to come in, we are saying He should go away from our door because He is a bad and an unwanted visitor.

Now, what if God responds to these unfortunate behaviours by saying, “You fool! This night your soul will be required of you?”  Will we be able to face Him when He declares His judgement against us for not regarding Him at all in our lives?

CONCLUSION

It is true that we can do so many things without God, but we can only find true joy and fulfilment when we include God in our plans.

BY OKPAN CLEOPAS (MINISTER)