What Is Your Plan?

 This experience was enough that I never again slept in a house without first having in mind a plan of what I would do in case of emergency.  Sadly, many people spend their lives without a clue of what to do when “panic time” comes. The winds of life blow them where it may, with little or no resistance. So, do you have plans to handle whatever may be ahead in your life?

The book of Proverbs contains these well-known words of caution: “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18, KJV).  The New King James Version puts it this way:  “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint.”  In other words, it is easy for people to become careless—even to the point of death—if they do not have an understanding of what they should be doing, and why. Most people today do not realize that they are on earth for a purpose, and that the world is their classroom. They simply follow the crowd in idolizing sports figures, entertainers, politicians and whatever are the latest fads. 

Eventually, though, many people are jolted from their shallow existence by some dramatic circumstance. It might be a fire, or it might be the death of a loved one. Whatever it might be, people sometimes gain the sense that they are “missing something.” But what might it be?  If you have not been searching, you will not be likely to find it in your time of crisis.  So, you must plan.  Jesus advised us to “count the cost” before making our commitments (Luke 14:28). 

There is a book containing the key to the future. It is a book filled with truth, but its contents have been distorted over the years by mankind’s misguided interpretations. Most today are unaware of the book’s actual message, but for those whose minds God has opened, its truths are plain, for the book interprets itself, and will reveal a plan for anyone to live life to its fullest. 

What does that book—the Holy Bible—tell us about planning for the future?  It reveals some shocking words uttered by Jesus Christ Himself, “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it”  (Luke 17:33).  What does this mean? Christ is telling us that those who only make plans for their physical lives will ultimately fail. By contrast, those who are baptized—who “bury” the “old man” in the waters of baptism—have begun to set a plan that will lead to eternal life. 

How, then, should we start planning for the future?  First, we must find the truth. Where can we begin?  Christ, praying to His Father, affirmed, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). That word is found in Scripture, in the pages of your Bible.   To learn more, read our informative booklet, The Bible: Fact or Fiction? and watch our Tomorrow’s World telecast, “Why Believe in God?”