By Brian R. Kenyon
We often take many things for granted when making plans. We assume health, money, and time will be in place to make our plans successful and fulfilling. How many times, though, have we planned something that never came to pass? We can be assured that when we include God in our plans, we will be blessed, whether what we planned ever does come to fruition. James addressed this very thing, when he wrote:
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit;” whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (Jas. 4:13-17)
This same principle is carried over in the New Testament. Jesus Himself appealed to this power of witnesses to prove Himself. He told the suspicious Jews, “I can do nothing on my own … If I alone bear
witness about myself, my testimony is not true” (Jn. 5:30-31, ESV). Then, He went on to show that John the Baptizer bore witness (Jn. 5:32-35), His works bore witness (Jn. 5:36 cf. Jn. 3:2), the “Father Him-
self” bore witness (Jn. 5:37-38), and the Scriptures bore witness of who He was (Jn. 5:39). Later, Jesus conversed with the scribes and Pharisees and acknowledged, “It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me” (Jn. 8:17-18).
In these verses are three benefits of keeping God in our plans.
Respects Time
Keeping God in our plans respects time (Jas. 4:13-14). Tomorrow may never come. Solomon warned, “Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Pr. 27:1). If tomorrow does come, we should not waste today worrying about it. After revealing the priority of seeking God first today, Jesus said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Mt.6:33-34). Life is short. James compared it to a “vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (Jas. 4:14). Job declared, “my life is a breath!” (Job 7:7). Remember also the foolish farmer whose time (and life) expired. By God’s grace, his “ground … yielded plentifully,” to the extent he replaced his old barns with bigger ones to store the bountiful surplus, so his soul could “take … ease; eat, drink, and be merry” (Lk. 12:16-19). He, obviously, did not include God in his plans. The time quickly came when he heard, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Lk. 12:20). Then, Jesus concluded, “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Lk. 12:21). Properly respecting time keeps us from being foolish. After acknowledging “All flesh is as grass … its flower falls away,” Peter concluded, “But the word of the LORD endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (1 Pet. 1:24-25). Because God’s word endures forever, “he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 Jn. 2:17). Let us respect time by keeping God in our plans!
Honors God’s Will
Keeping God in our plans honors His will. James made clear our attitude must reflect, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that” (Jas. 4:15). We must always submit ourselves, with love and joy, to God’s will (cf. 1 Jn. 5:2-3). God wants “all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1Tim. 2:4). God has provided everything on His end to make salvation possible (cf. Rom. 8:32, 34). We must obey the gospel to be saved (Mk. 16:15-16), and we must continue to “observe all things that I [Jesus] have commanded you” in order to remain saved (Mt. 28:20 cf. Acts 8:9-13, 18-24). Keeping God in our plans will allow us to repent, for God’s will is that none “should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). When we honor God’s will, we fulfill Jesus’ “desire that they [those who believe in Jesus] also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me” (Jn. 17:24). Let us honor God’s will by keeping Him in our plans!
Prevents Sin
Keeping God in our plans prevents sin. James revealed two ways it does this. One is that it keeps arrogance in check. When we leave God out, we tend to “boast in … arrogance,” and “All such boasting is evil” (Jas. 4:16). To the Corinthians who sinned by tolerating, even bragging about, allowing a fornicator to remain among them, Paul wrote, “Your glorying [boasting, ESV] is not good” (1 Cor. 5:6). Keeping God in our plans also helps prevent what is often termed “sins of omission.” James said if we know to “do good” and “do not do it … it is sin” (Jas. 4:17). When we truly keep God in our plans, we are constantly more aware of His will. When we humbly “submit to God,” we “Resist the devil and he will flee” (Jas. 4:6-7). Also, when we “humble [ourselves] in the sight of the Lord … He will lift [us] up” (Jas. 4:10). Let us, by keeping God in our plans, prevent our sinning through arrogance and/or leaving undone what we know is good for us to do!
By always keeping God in all our plans, we respect the fleeting moments of time by honoring His will through living up to it, which will lessen our sins. Is God in your plans?
