Hindsight is twenty-twenty. Looking back is when we can see where we made successful choices, and also where we could have made better ones. It’s easy to glance back and know how things should have been. Sometimes we think, “We should have had a better plan.”
So, what about the future? Is there still time to make a plan for tomorrow, the day after that, and the day after that? Can we improve the time we have left in this life?
The answer is, obviously, of course. Whether we’re 16 and recovering from a bad romance or 66 and facing the loss of our retirement income, tomorrow hasn’t happened, and our opportunities are as wide as the horizon. We can change our financial future, our emotional tomorrows, and even make a difference in how we worship our God. It’s wrapped up in making a plan for how we want things to be.
Luke 12:15 tells us the first step in our newly formed strategy:
“And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’ ”
When we want more things, our love for God and the people around us will suffer as a result. We need to focus on the Father and sharing his love with the world.
Ephesians 5:5 says our second step is to guard against immorality:
“For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
Clean living leaves no room for future regret. Look at our entertainment icons and sports heroes with ugly pasts rearing over them. They never planned for their deeds to come to light. We have to ensure our past is pristine. We do this by tossing immorality to the side each and every day.
Matthew 6:33 gives us the most important step in our plan:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Yes, we need things in order to survive. God is aware of that. Our body’s instincts and drives are necessary, even if they do require us to control them. Yet we cannot allow these to be the core of our plan for living.
If we focus on God and make him our plan, all the rest will fall into place. Then, at the end of our days, when we look back on our life, we will know our plan has blossomed into its ultimate goal, and that’s to spend eternity with our Christ and King.
When meeting God’s standards is our primary focus, God will order our lives to achieve magnificent things for him.
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