Loyal, OK

 
Pastor Leon Seaton

Seventh in a Series on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew

Plan For The Future

Matthew 6:19-24

It was just a few days before Easter. A Catholic priest that worked in an inner city church was walking down the alley on his way home. You can imagine his fear when suddenly a young man came up behind him and poked a knife against his back. "Give me your money," the young man said. The priest slowly turned around, opened his jacket and reached into an inner pocket to remove his wallet. In doing so he exposed his clerical collar. "Oh, I'm sorry, Father," said the young man, "I didn't see your collar. I don't want YOUR money."

Trembling from the scare, the priest removed a cigar from his shirt pocket and offered it to the young man. "Here," he said. "Have a cigar."

"Oh, no, I can't do that," the young man replied, "I gave cigars up for Lent." - David E. Leininger

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Since Christmas is approaching, this is a good time to evaluate and adjust our priorities so we won’t get things out of balance like that young man did!

As believers, we are not a citizen of this earth, but a citizen of heaven. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is from another place." John 18:36

Click here to read Matthew 6:19-24

 Do you believe that God will take care of you at all times? He certainly promises that He will if we walk in obedience! (Did you notice the “if”?) However, never assume that your life will be without problems! That is just the way life is!

As Christian believers we fight many spiritual battles. Such things as fear, worry, depression, jealousy and gossip are constant temptations to some of us.

One way to overcome those problems is to be godly-minded instead of worldly-minded. A worldly-minded person has his mind on the things of earth as opposed to the things of God. This often leads to being a hypocrite; to be all that God wants us to be, God must have first place in all areas of our lives.

Satan is the god of this world, so a good measure of our godliness is simply this: Do our actions reflect God or Satan?

The late Lewis Grizzard wrote a newspaper article about Smokey Bailey of Atlanta, Georgia. Smokey is a janitor in an Atlanta apartment building but he spends a lot of his time passing out Bibles on the streets. In fact, a large part of his meager income is used to purchase more Bibles. This is Smokey’s take on the situation: "Money ain't never worried me, 'cause my wages are comin' later. The Lord's holdin' 'em for me." Smokey's treasure is in heaven. Where is your treasure stashed?

We have probably all met people that pretended to be more spiritual than they really are. They may have fooled us for a while, but eventually we saw through them. All of this will be revealed at the end of time when God judges our lives. Our treasures in heaven are the good things that we give to others… the faithfulness we show to God.

These treasures are made up of the things that we do with the right motive. If we do something to be honored by others, then we have received all of the glory that we will ever get.

We may not always be happy – that is not a sign of good mental health – but we should always have the joy of knowing that God is always at our side, guiding us through the difficulties of this life.

The worldly man builds his life on the wrong premise, supposing that godliness is the path to wealth.

That being said, remember that God promises to meet all of our needs, so if you have a big ministry, you have great needs, and God will meet that need because it honors God.

How can we tell if we are worrying about the future instead of planning ahead?

1. Worry immobilizes us.
2. Concern moves us to action
3. Planning for the future is time well spent.
4. Worry about the future is time wasted
5. Planning is
   1. thinking about our goals, steps and schedules
   2. trusting God’s guidance
   3. reducing our stress and worry
6. Worry is
   1. wrapped in fear
   2. makes trusting God very difficult
   3. making plans that interfere with our relationship with God

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The great Methodist preacher Charles Allen used to tell this story about his father. Charles Allen grew up in the Loudsvile community of White County, Georgia. The family had very little money, but they didn't need much in those days. One Christmas Eve when Charles was about seven years old, his father invited him to ride with him in a horse-drawn wagon to the town of Cleveland to buy supplies. Just before they got to town the father gave Charles a dime, the first dime the boy had ever had. His father told him he could spend it any way he liked.

What a time Charles had in Cleveland with a whole dime! He shopped long and hard. What a difficult choice he faced! He could buy a toy, or lots of red-striped candy, or a big red tablecloth with the Constitution of the United States printed on it. In those days a dime would buy a lot. Charles saw oranges for the first time. He could have bought several of them.

Time was running out. Charles was supposed to meet his father at a particular time to go home. So, he made his decision, bought an item, put the package in his pocket, and ran to the wagon. While they were riding home, he pulled the package out of his pocket. It contained a huge red handkerchief. Then he handed it father and said, "I bought you a Christmas present." Charles Allen says that all across the years since then, the memory of that gift has brought him more joy than anything he has purchased for himself. A boy took the first dime he ever had and used it to purchase a gift for the father who had given it to the first place.

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How could we ever invest the first ten percent of our time, talent, and money more wonderfully than to return it in gratitude loving heavenly Father who is the treasure of our lives?

What we expect of ourselves is very important. However, those expectations can and will be changed. My life plan was to become a printer for a newspaper company, live in a mobile home out in the country and spend time wishing I had done better.

However, God had other ideas. The Air Force made me a medic… Then I met Roberta, then I finally accepted a call to ministry… and God has blessed us far above my expectations.

We should plan our lives carefully, considering carefully what God wants us to do.

George Bernard Shaw, a well-known author that some of you have studied, once visited British sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein in his studio. Shaw noticed a huge block of stone standing in one corner and asked what it was for.

"I don't know yet. I'm still making plans", said Epstein.

Shaw was astounded. "You mean you plan your work. Why, I change my mind several times a day!"

"That's all very well with a four-ounce manuscript," replied the sculptor, "but not with a four-ton block of stone!" Today in the Word, April 5, 1993

Compare that with a story that happened during WWII. General McArthur asked an engineer how long it would take to build a bridge across a certain river. "About three days." The engineer was told to go ahead and draw up the plans. Three days later McArthur asked for the plans. The engineer seemed surprised. "Oh, the bridge is ready. You can cross it now. If you want plans, you'll have to wait a little longer, we haven't finished those yet."  Source Unknown, found at www.sermonillustration.com

Some of the things that God wants us to do are spelled out very plainly. We just have to look into the Word of God and get started. That is why McArthur’s bridge could be built so quickly. The engineer knew what needed to be done.

However, as we plan for our future we need to think it through. Some of the things that God wants you to do may take a lot of preparation. Hopefully you and I are willing to do both!

    Sunday, November 25, 2007