Most of us have made plans for the future, what we will do tomorrow, next week, next year and even beyond that.
Young people make plans for their education, for the type of work they want to do. Even plans are made for old age. Sometimes these plans are fulfilled, but many times they must be changed for the sake of difficulties, or when a better plan is presented.
If you plan to build a house, you need to first make a blueprint, to show the size of it, and how many windows and doors it will have. Also, if you plan to go traveling you need an itinerary, which shows the direction that you plan to go, and also stopovers, and then the final destination.
The most important plan that we need to make is to be in heaven and to have eternal life. If this is our desire, then the plan has been already made; it is written in the Bible. God has made a complete plan for our salvation, and we must accept it as it is written, and not add to it, nor take anything away. All our own plans must be put away, and follow the plan of God in every detail.
One thing in the plan of God is tribulation, and this has turned many men and women away from the way of God. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but to be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Do not plan for an easy, comfortable life ahead. Especially in the time of the end in which we live, there will be persecution against God’s children.
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Matthew 24:21
We may need to escape as Lot did from Sodom and leave behind our houses, and belongings, and run to the woods and mountains to hide from our enemies.
Also, the plan of God for us includes Bible study. We read, “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for My mouth it hath commanded, and His spirit it hath gathered them.” Isaiah 34:16
Jesus also said, “Have ye not read so much as this?” Luke 6:3. If we neglect regular Bible study we will fail, we will lose our faith. Daily we must study the Bible, it is the spiritual food to make us strong and able to resist the temptations of Satan. Besides the Bible we have the Testimonies of Sister White, which God has given us as mediums for our salvation. By neglecting the study of these testimonies we despise God’s efforts to save us.
In the perfect plan of God there is also health reform, which is very important to us. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31. If we eat and drink something that God has not permitted we commit the same sin that Adam and Eve did, and the results will be the same.
Important also is to attend all the religious meetings of the church of God. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25
“Those who appreciate the words of Christ will not turn aside from the prayer meeting, or from the meeting where the Lord’s messenger has been sent to tell them concerning things of eternal interest.” –Messages to Young People, p. 140–141
God also wants us to be flexible, so that He can form us into His own image. “But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our Potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand.” Isaiah 64:8
We must become like a little child, willing to learn and be changed. We can make no firm plans for ourselves, but let God lead us in His way. If God would tell you to quit your job and start doing missionary work, what would be your answer to Him? If we love our neighbour as ourselves, then the greatest expression of love is to try to save him into eternal life.
Also, we need to be baptized into His church. Jesus said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Mark 16:16. David said, “I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments.” Psalm 119:60
Also we read, “Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear His voice, Harden not your hearts.” Hebrews 3:7–8
To have the continuous power of God with us, we need to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). To pray in the morning and in the evening only, is not enough.
“No man is safe for a day or an hour without prayer. . . while we must constantly guard against the devices of Satan, we should pray in faith continually: Lead us not into temptation.” –The Great Controversy, p. 530
“We should watch and work and pray as though this were the last day that would be granted us. How intensely earnest, then, would be our life. How closely would we follow Jesus in all our words and deeds.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 200
The word of God tells us also to look unto Him. “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:22
Peter could walk on water, as long as his eyes were beholding Jesus, but as soon as he turned his eyes away from Him, he started sinking. By beholding Jesus we change to His image. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
Every day we need to meditate and behold the dying form of Jesus. The scenes of Calvary will generate love to Him. This is one of the most important things that we must learn, to love God above all, even more than ourselves.
Jesus asked Peter three times, “Lovest thou me?” Without this love we will be lost.
Now we have a work to do. There is a work that God will not do for us, we must do it. Paul writes to us, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12. God has promised to give us power that will enable us to obey Him. Sister White writes about the struggle that we must do in order to be overcomers.
“I saw some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle. Firmness and great earnestness was expressed in their countenances; large drops of perspiration fell from their foreheads. Now and then their faces would light up with the marks of God’s approbation, and again the same solemn, earnest, anxious look would settle upon them.
“Evil angels crowded around, pressing darkness upon them to shut out Jesus from their view, that their eyes might be drawn to the darkness that surrounded them, and thus they be led to distrust God and murmur against Him. Their only safety was in keeping their eyes directed upward. Angels of God had charge over His people, and as the poisonous atmosphere of evil angels was pressed around these anxious ones, the heavenly angels were continually wafting their wings over them to scatter the thick darkness.
“As the praying ones continued their earnest cries, at times a ray of light from Jesus came to them, to encourage their hearts and light up their countenances. Some, I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud. The angels of God left these and went to the aid of the earnest, praying ones. I saw angels of God hasten to the assistance of all who were struggling with all their power to resist the evil angels and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance. But His angels left those who made no effort to help themselves, and I lost sight of them.” –Early Writings, p. 269–270
Today, we have a choice to follow the plan of God and be saved, or to follow our own plans and be lost. Remember, what you decide today will determine your future for eternity. Amen.
Timo Martin