I remember as I was growing up, the things which caught my attention and I was really concerned about, especially regarding my future career—what would I do? Where would my place be in society? I had so many questions regarding my future life. I never thought about the idea that Jesus needed me in His vineyard and that He had a better plan for my life. This thought came after my conversion when I began to study the Scriptures. Then Jesus opened my eyes and put before me a noble aspiration. I have seen that Jesus needs young people to be instructed and prepared for His service. At that time I had so many aspirations to fight for, but none of them were appointed for me by God. The Bible says in Isaiah 55:8, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord.” Also, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12.
Appearances and first impressions are not always accurate. The following illustration will help us think about this. My mind goes back to an episode of my life while I was a teenager. I used to go with my friends to play hockey in winter time in Romania. Back then we didn’t have arenas in which to play hockey, as you have here in Canada. So, we went to a frozen lake which was our playground at that time. Now, one of my friends who was older and bigger than I, was skating to place the puck into the goal, when, all of a sudden, the ice began to break and my friend fell into the cold water. Finally, he was rescued and safe. You see, my friend thought the ice had a strong surface and we thought that it would hold us. But in the end there was a disaster. Some things are not what they seem to be. And this bit of truth is something we must bear in mind, as touching morals and religion. Some forms of entertainment may seem to be right, they may appear to be right, but, upon further investigation, they turn out to be harmful and dangerous.
Let us consider some questions you and I should ask ourselves:
- How can I know that God has a plan for me?
- What should be my attitude when God calls me?
- Can I trust enough in God’s plan to give up mine?
- What will be the result?
The goal in life for a spiritual man is to be saved through the grace of Jesus our Lord and Saviour who died for us. This is the gift of God for those who believe and accept Him. Let us go to the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy to answer our questions. First of all I want to bring you references from the Scriptures about our first question: How can I know that God has a plan for me? “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV). One of the reasons Jesus came to this earth that He mentioned was that He came to give us life, and to give it more abundantly. Do you want a more abundant life? Only Jesus can give it because He said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” In coming to Jesus we receive an abundant life, full of meaning, a life that is desired by many if they would know the source of life.
God’s servant Ellen White wrote, “God desires us to make use of every opportunity for securing a preparation for His work. He expects us to put all our energies into its performance, and to keep our hearts alive to its sacredness and its fearful responsibilities. Many who are qualified to do excellent work accomplish little because they attempt little. Thousands pass through life as if they had no great object for which to live, no high standard to reach. One reason for this is the low estimate which they place upon themselves. Christ paid an infinite price for us, and according to the price paid He desires us to value ourselves. Be not satisfied with reaching a low standard. We are not what we might be, or what it is God’s will that we should be. God has given us reasoning powers, not to remain inactive, or to be perverted to earthly and sordid pursuits, but that they may be developed to the utmost, refined, sanctified, ennobled, and used in advancing the interests of His kingdom.” –Messages to Young People, p. 192
We have thousands of choices to make every year and if they are not done with Jesus, they fail. We should set high goals in this life, because Jesus has promised to help us reach and fulfill them when we put Him first. The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy in his first epistle, chapter 3:1, “If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” Here Paul encourages an aspiration which is often considered by many Christians with suspicion, but we should consider this question: Would it not be dangerous to entrust a spiritual office to someone desiring supremacy? Normally just a desire for a spiritual office is not enough. On the contrary, it requires self-denial, self-renunciation and a complete surrender. In Paul’s time, only when a soul had deep love for Christ and a living connection with His church could one aspire to this position. In order to understand God’s calling we should first acknowledge our total dependency on God. We cannot trust ourselves and our abilities when such an important call is made.
There is a danger when someone is not spiritually aspiring for the office. In this context is related Jeremiah’s counsel to Baruc in Jeremiah 45:5 “And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not. . .” Here Jeremiah does not warn against a correct aspiration, but against a selfish aspiration, when he says “great things for thyself.” Here the reasons for the office are very important. Jesus Christ Himself is our perfect example. He says in Matthew 20:28, “Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” Every one of us has the duty to make the most out of our life and develop the strengths and abilities entrusted to us by God. Does God have a plan for my life? Yes, certainly He does. What should be my attitude after being convicted that God has a plan for me and is calling me?
How do we know when God calls us? He first changes us and through the power and conviction of the Holy Spirit opens to us our calling. Take for example Saul of Tarsus, a Jewish Pharisee. We saw how that prior to his conversion he persecuted and killed God’s people. But some time later by the grace of God he was remarkably changed and instead of a persecutor, under the influence of the Holy Spirit he became one of the greatest soul winners in the history of God’s church. This great apostle, later called Paul brought the good news of salvation to three continents, planting dozens of churches in the places where he preached, and writing most of the epistles in the New Testament. His message was a blessing for the people in his time and they are blessings for us today. This man, when he heard the voice of Jesus, didn’t hesitate in answering, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” This should be our attitude every morning as we start a new day, coming before the Lord and asking His guidance through that day. I believe all heaven rejoices when we come in faith before the throne of God. As we come, He sends us His Holy Spirit to empower us in order to accomplish the tasks He gives us.
One Sunday afternoon as I studied the Bible with my neighbours, Donald and Wilma Campbell, their daughter joined us for a couple of minutes, and she came up with a very interesting question: How do we know we are forgiven? Well, I pointed her attention to Bible verses such as 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” Also verse 7 of the same chapter, “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” You see, my friend, in order to receive forgiveness or be forgiven we must first confess our sins and forsake them, just as we have read in these two Bible texts. The person called by God is in a continuous relationship with our Saviour Jesus Christ. He should experience forgiveness for himself and should have a personal experience in this important matter. In order to become a soul-winner this is the issue when God calls somebody—that we know we have a new life. He calls us to make Him known to others and this we call missionary work, which must be guided by the Holy Spirit.
When the psalmist David prayed, “Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.” Psalm 51:9–13. David saw that before he could be a soul-winner, before he could teach transgressors the way of the Lord and convert sinners, in order to do that, first he must have his sins blotted out and have a personal encounter with Jesus. He must have a clean heart and a right spirit. In order to bring people to Jesus, he himself must be brought to Jesus. Before speaking to others about Jesus, he must personally know Jesus. That is why David, the author of Psalm 23, speaks that the Lord is his Shepherd; he does not speak about someone he just heard about, but he speaks about the One he knows personally. This should be our attitude, also. We can only speak about what we saw, heard and felt, said the Disciples.
What about us, my dear friends? Is Jesus and the plan of salvation only a simple theory for us? Maybe some of us learned about Jesus in some missionary seminar, or some inherited this faith just because their parents are members of the church; others can say, well, I came to Jesus myself just because I heard that Christians are nice people, ready to help and give support. Or they say, “you know I am an Adventist because I like these people who help me. There are young people that come to the church just because there is a girl or boy that she or he likes and wants to marry. We can bring lots of arguments regarding the reasons why people come to church, but if there is not a sincere desire to know Jesus better—to be acquainted with Him and allow Him to change us from within, then there is no way to bring others to Jesus. You can speak about Jesus from a theological point of view, you can know the truth by heart—even entire chapters in the Bible—you can memorize and be able to tell others, but unless you have a personal encounter with Jesus and His salvation that has been offered to you, unless there is a constant relationship through prayer and study of the Bible, you and I will not be able to represent our Saviour in a powerful and convincing way which will bring people to take a stand for Jesus and be prepared for His returning.
Can I trust in God’s plan enough to be ready to give up mine? At the surface of this question we may all say, yes. But wait a little. When does a person give up his plan in order to achieve something better? From a worldly perspective you may say, when he knows and studies the plan until he is convinced that there is no failure in it. From God’s perspective, many times, even if the plan God has for me is not understood completely, we accept that plan and we call that faith. Faith is what we need in order to accomplish God’s plan in our lives. Faith makes possible the impossible. Faith is not always the logical way, which so many people in the world are guided by. Faith sometimes cannot be explained; it only can be experienced, and those people, who, by faith, accept God’s plan and are ready to give up their plans, these people God can use. I believe that then they will understand the essence of a noble aspiration in this life.
We have many examples in the Scriptures where God has called people: Abraham, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and so many others that understood when God called them. Do you feel God is calling you? Do you see the necessity of the gifts God has entrusted you with in the church where you are a member? Do you feel that people around you are in need of a Saviour? Oh, my friend, only eternity will reveal to us things we neglected while we could have done something. We have an individual work to do to prepare for the great events that are before us. Oh, parents, there is a warning for us. Will we take heed to it? “The children of Sabbath-keeping parents, who have had great light, who have been the objects of the tenderest solicitude, may be the ones who will leave a heritage of shame, who will sow to the wind and reap the whirlwind. In the judgment the names of those who have sinned against great light will be written with those who are condemned to be separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. They will be lost, lost, and will be numbered with the scorners of the grace of Christ. I would rather see my children laid in the grave than see them taking the path that leads to death. The terrible fact that I had nurtured children to fight against the God of heaven, to swell the ranks of apostates in the last days, to march under the black banner of Satan, would indeed be a thought of horror to me.” –Messages to Young People, p. 87
The Bible says in Mark 8:36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” When I found the meaning for my life, when I first became a Christian and let Jesus guide my life I could only say, “what a great, loving, compassionate and tender Savior I have.” Today, 15 years after the time I wanted to gain the world as a young man, but was in danger of losing my soul, I can say with all my heart, “Lord, You are wonderful. You are wonderful, Lord, revealing to me such a great love, giving me such a great opportunity, Lord. I will go in Your Holy Name and let people know You. What amazing love, amazing love!”
My dear young brother, my dear young sister, do you have plans you want to commit to Jesus? Do you really love your Saviour who showed such infinite love on the cross, who paid such an infinite price on the cross, who made provisions for your salvation? What’s your attitude when He calls to you? Fifteen years ago, for the first time in my life I heard Jesus calling me from my wicked ways. I heard His tender voice saying, “Will you accept Me? Will you listen and obey Me? Will you give up your plans to accept Mine? Looking back these years, I have had one question for which I haven’t received an answer yet. “Lord, why me? What do You see in me? Are there not so many other people?” I can only think about the time when Jesus will come to take us home to spend eternity with Him, and I can ask him that question.
I think each one of us will be completely satisfied with the answers that He will give us then, answers we don’t have for now. Right now we don’t have answers to many of the things which happen in our lives, but we should accept them by faith, trusting completely in our Saviour. One day, not too far away, one day, Jesus will take each one of us individually and He will give us an answer to the problems we face today. There are people who love Jesus and still die; there are people who love His appearing and are still sick; there are people who love Jesus and are still broken-hearted, going through a trauma of divorce, or having to lead a son or a daughter to the grave. Why do all these things happen? The Bible has the answer. We know Satan is the author of all these horrible things and we know also that Satan tries to destroy our faith in God because his end is near. He gets too much ground just because we sometimes lose the true meaning of life.
The essence of a noble aspiration consists of a close relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Do you want me to let you know what will be its result? Well, I tell you from my personal experience that there is no better choice you can ever make on this earth than the following: accept Jesus as your personal Saviour and then ask Him what plan He has for your life. This is not as simple as it seems to be, because many times as we go through this life there are circumstances that can take us from the path God has appointed for us. Unless there is a continual connection with heaven, we will not be able to fulfill God’s task. The Bible and the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the Spirit of Prophecy, given to the remnant church, is to help us to stand forth and resist all of Satan’s deceptions and temptations, and is the foundation of our faith. There is power, my dear friend, in Jesus. There is power in the study of God’s word. The Bible is not just a book, but, rather, I can say that the Bible is the book above all books, because it has been proved to change people’s lives.
In the pages of the Bible I find answers to the problems we face as we go through this life; I find peace, security, happiness, joy, guidance and meaning. We should take God’s word daily and dig deeply for the pearls of truth. I just want to encourage you to follow Jesus, to take life seriously, because on this your life’s destiny will rest. This life is given to us as a test for the eternal one prepared by Jesus. I want you to meditate upon what we have studied in this message and act in faith, giving the opportunity to our Lord Jesus to fulfill His plan in your life. This is what I did, and now I let Jesus draw me closely to Him every day; I am learning to depend and rely on Him because there is no better choice in this life than to accept and serve Jesus with all your life.
I want to conclude with a statement from the Spirit of Prophecy. “All who profess godliness should feel the danger of those who are out of Christ. Soon their probation will close. Those who might have exerted an influence to save souls, had they stood in the counsel of God, yet failed to do their duty through selfishness, indolence, or because they were ashamed of the cross of Christ, will not only lose their own souls, but will have the blood of poor sinners upon their garments. Such will be required to render an account for the good that they could have done had they been consecrated to God, but did not do because of their unfaithfulness. Those who have really tasted the sweets of redeeming love will not, cannot, rest until all with whom they associate are made acquainted with the plan of salvation. The young should inquire, ‘Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? How can I honor and glorify Thy name upon the earth?’ Souls are perishing all around us, and yet what burden do the youth bear to win souls to Christ?” –Messages to Young People, p. 204
May our loving Father give us power from on high, as well as joy and happiness as we go out in faith to search for the lost sheep and bring them to the fold is my wish and prayer for this time. Amen.
In Christ,
Nicholas Anca