Solomon writes in Proverbs 21:5, 'The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those who are hasty, surely to poverty.' The two key to success in life are to plan one's work, and then secondly, to diligently carry out one's plans. But why is it that we fail to carry out our plans? Why is it that we do not accomplish what we set out to accomplish? Well, sometimes God alters our plans. We plan the potential course, but God determines the actual course. Sometimes, secondly, our plans are unrealistic. We still retain the ideal in our minds of what we can do in the time available. But sin and the curse reduces the ideal to the real-- and we soon come to realize that we are not omnipotent nor can we be two places at the same time. Sometimes, thirdly, we choose not to work our plan. We procrastinate, putting off for tomorrow what we should be doing today. We put off getting started, postponing unpleasant, overwhelming tasks, sometimes out of fear. Or we fail to finish what we've started. Instead we get sidetracked, unfocused, chasing rabbits. So how do we work our plan? This sermon ends with some practical things we can do to accomplish our work. |
