Discerning God's Will Article
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Have You Discovered God’s Plan For Your Life?
You have heard that God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. But have you ever considered how that plan is to be lived out? Carefully consider...
1) God Wants Every Christian to Have an Eternal Perspective.
What would you do with your life if you knew for sure that Jesus Christ was going to return in five years? In one year? Or, if you had only one year to live, what would you be doing today? Most important, when you come to the end of your life and look back at what God has accomplished through you, what do you want to see?
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
There are two kinds of accomplishments.
Temporal (reflect man’s glory)
* status or position
* “enough” money
* prestige, power
* material goods
* intellectual achievements
* things done by human effort
Eternal (reflect God’s glory)
* fruit of the Spirit
* people won to Christ
* people discipled
* things done in the power of the Holy Spirit
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25).
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33).
Which type of accomplishments will characterize your life? On which side do you place a greater emphasis?
Although temporal possessions and achievements are not wrong in themselves, temporal life goals are contrary to God’s plan for all Christians.
Having an eternal perspective will affect our activities.
Following Christ may involve some changes in our present plans. But no matter how much we “give up” for Christ, He gives far more in return. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields --and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30).
Each life’s work will be judged according to its quality.
2 Corinthians 5:9-10 tells us that our primary ambition is to please the Lord in whatever we do. Although, as Christians, we are secure in our salvation, our deed will be judged according to their worth. Therefore, we should discern whether our activities – and our motives behind those activities – are truly pleasing to God.
“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)
God will reward us if we are faithful and effective stewards.
Read Luke 19:11-27 in its entirety. In this parable, a nobleman gives each of his slaves one mina with which to do business. One slave invests his money and earns 10 minas; another earns five minas. Both are rewarded; but the slave who multiplied his resources more, proving himself to be the more effective steward, is given the greater reward.
From this parable, we can learn two general principles:
- Jesus will be pleased if we are faithful stewards.
- If we effectively use the resources He has entrusted to us, He will trust us with more.
We need to recognize the shortness of life.
“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:13-14).
In the context of eternity, even 70 or 80 years are very brief, and we can’t be sure that we will live that long. Therefore, we should seek to make every moment count for Jesus Christ. We cannot carelessly waste the time that God gives us by thinking that we still have years left to do those things which are important. “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalms 90:12).
We should live our lives with a single-minded commitment to God’s purpose.
Colossians 3:23-24 tells us: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”And as “good soldiers of Christ Jesus,” we are instructed: “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs --he wants to please his commanding officer” (2 Timothy 2:4).
In summary…
The Bible admonishes us: “Do not love the world or anything in the world…. For everything in the world --the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does --comes not from the Father but from the world” (1John 2:15-16).
If we are to make the most of the time and the resources Christ has given to us, we must be fully committed to Him. If we allow ourselves to give too much attention to our temporal accomplishments – power, money, material goods, etc. – we will lose our eternal perspective and hinder our effectiveness in fulfilling His plan for our lives.
As we view our lives from an eternal perspective, we should be more aware of the immediate needs around us.
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