Toss the Planner

Last night at our small group, we watched a video clip from the Crazy Love DVD.  In this segment, Francis Chan challenged us to think about how we live each and every day, encouraging us in a non-morbid way to seriously consider that today could very well be the day we meet Jesus.  If we truly live with that perspective, we would live differently.  Our priorities and values would change.  We would care less about getting the clothes washed and dirty dishes put away and having the kitchen floor sparkle -- although those are all good and necessary things.  We wouldn't put so much emphasis on climbing the corporate ladder or investing in the right stocks.  Instead, we would play with our kids, we would read them books, we would go out in the backyard and throw a baseball back and forth, we would laugh together, we would make some phone calls or send some emails letting people far away know how much we love and care for them, we would make some visits to the nursing homes and houses of long-forgotten friends or distant relatives.  If we woke up each morning, and our first thought was, "I might stand before Jesus TODAY," our outlook on the day ahead of us would be totally different than if we just rolled out of bed, rubbed our eyes, stumbled into the shower, and grumbled about all that we needed to get done.

Francis Chan went on to say that we should toss the daily planner aside -- the one we so meticulously write down every detail of our lives in -- and instead take time to talk to THE Planner.  He reminded us how in Colossians Paul tells us, "Everything has been created by Jesus and FOR HIM."  How that one little preposition -- FOR -- can alter our entire view of life.  If we are made FOR Jesus, then our lives, our days, should be spent living FOR Him, striving to please Him, to make Him known, to bring as much honor and glory and praise as possible to His name.  If we are made FOR Jesus, then He should be our number one priority, we should value Him above all else.  If we are made FOR Jesus, then He should be the one to dictate our plans for the day.  In fact, Chan suggested that we forget about our own plans for the day and ask God to show us what HIS plans for us are for the day.  Whenever he does that, he shared, his day takes on a completely different course than he could ever imagined.

Paul reminds us in Ephesians, "For we are God's MASTERPIECE.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, SO THAT WE CAN DO THE GOOD THINGS HE PLANNED FOR US LONG AGO."  Well then, shouldn't we be doing our best to carry out those plans God has for us?  If the Creator of the universe has taken time to prepare special plans for each and every one of us, if He has given us a specific purpose in living, should we not then take the time to ask Him what those plans are and ask Him for help in accomplishing them to the best of our ability.  Should we not make every effort to fulfill those plans, even if it means laying aside our own hopes and dreams?!

Rather than feeling jilted that we don't get to do what we want, that we have to "sacrifice" our plans for the sake of doing God's will, Paul comforts us later in Ephesians, "Now glory be to God!  By HIS MIGHTY POWER AT WORK WITHIN US, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope."  I'm pretty sure if we are willing to toss our planner aside, God will blow our faces off with what He can do in and through us as we allow Him to have complete and total control in every area of our lives!  As we surrender our plans -- and lives -- to Jesus, we don't lose anything.  Oh no, we GAIN everything!

I shared a bit back how someone's last words are pretty important.  Well then, consider what Jesus told His disciples shortly before His death, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds." (Matthew 16:24-27)

Did you catch it?  There at the very end of His "speech?"  Jesus reminded them that we will ALL stand before God and give an account of how we have lived our lives.  If today was your last day on earth, if you were to meet Jesus face to face TODAY, what regrets -- if any -- would you have?

At the end of the video clip last night, Francis Chan challenged us, "Think of what regrets you may have if you were to die today, and then live TODAY so that you don't have those regrets."  He point blank asked us, "What are you going to do TODAY to change your life so you don't have any regrets when you stand before Jesus?"

I for one am going to try to adapt Paul's way of living:

Yes, everything else is worthless 

when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

I have discarded everything else,

counting it all as garbage,

so that I may have Christ and become one with Him.

I no longer count on my own goodness or ability to obey God's law,

but I trust Christ to save me.

For God's way of making me right with Himself depends on faith.

As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead.

I can learn what it means to suffer with Him,

sharing in His death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!

I was going to end with those verses, but God is clearly at work this morning -- directing me to various passages of  Scripture as they perfectly relate to each other and build on what He is trying to teach me today.  I just read in Galatians and posted on facebook not thirty minutes ago, "Consequently, it is clear that no one can ever be right with God by trying to keep the law.  For the Scriptures say, 'It is through FAITH that a righteous person has life.'"

How very comforting, actually.  We don't have to worry and fret that we won't be good enough, that we won't do all that God has planned for us and be doomed as failures.  Quite the opposite!  We simply have to lay our lives before Jesus, and HE will take them up, give us the Holy Spirit, and then fill our hearts and minds with HIS power.  It is only as God works within us that we can fulfill the plans and purposes He has prepared for us.  On our own we are certain to fall short, but with God we will soar to new heights, far surpassing any of the plans we had scrawled in our day planners or typed into our Google calendars.

Brings me back to the verses I read in Psalms earlier in the week:

Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.

Each morning I bring my requests to You and wait expectantly.

Because of Your unfailing love, I can enter Your house;

with deepest awe I will worship at Your temple.

Lead me in the right path, O Lord,

or my enemies will conquer me.

Tell me clearly what to do,

and show me which way to turn.

With all that said, let's make a pact to do as Kris Allen sang and "live like we're dying."  May we look at today with the reality that it very well could be our last day here on earth, that we could at any time today meet Jesus face to face.  Let's not have any regrets!  Instead, let's stand before Jesus knowing we did everything we could to love Him and live for Him.