Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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(Today’s Reading)
The Implications of the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact
(Book Installment 53)
The Plan Behind the Second Coming
Chapter 4 – The Predetermined Plan
The Plans of Man
The Old Testament commends planning as a fruitful human activity.
Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage,
But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.
The Old Testament also acknowledges that the quality of a plan, as well as the faithful execution of it, make a difference in the degree of that plan’s fruitfulness.
Isaiah 32:8 But the noble man devises noble plans;
And by noble plans he stands.
In other words, not all plans are noble because not all men are noble. And even if the plan is noble, it won’t matter if it’s not followed.
In that same spirit, the New Testament likewise commends human planning and its proper execution. For Jesus Himself said:
Luke 14:28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?
Luke 14:29 “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,
Luke 14:30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
Jesus is pointing out that everyone plans. Even the godless.
Some people think James is negative on planning because of what he wrote in his letter, but if you read the passage thoughtfully, you’ll see he’s right in line with the rest of the Bible. He’s not condemning planning – he’s condemning poor planning.
James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.”
James 4:14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
James 4:15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”
James is telling us that leaving God out of our planning is poor planning. That is, he is only negative on godless – that is, secular – planning. And he is being fully consistent with the Bible’s overall support for quality planning. Since we live for Christ and not ourselves, it would be mighty poor planning to exclude His interests in the planning process.
Even Satan plans.
2 Corinthians 2:11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
Since Satan’s plans are for evil, we rightly call them “schemes.” And because Satan has schemes, we need to have noble plans in order to be able to resist him. That’s why Paul says this:
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
Putting on the full armor of God each day is a noble plan. Reading the Bible every day is a noble plan. A Bible reading plan is a noble plan.
From all this biblical guidance, we learn that planning is good, and better planning is better. The good news is that planning is like any other human skill in that it can improve with practice. Therefore, the more we know about plans and planning, the more productive our plans can be. All this said, there are limitations to human planning – which makes God’s planning all the more worthy of study.
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