God's Life PlanPrøve

DAY SIX

The Fifth “S”- Service

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:3-7 ESV

We continue on this path of thinking that God’s plan for our life is much different than what we might have thought. I’ve been building a case that God’s plan includes surrender, seeking, sacrifice and suffering. I believe all of this leads us to God’s ultimate plan for our lives…service.

It’s so interesting as I think of my former unenlightened thoughts about life which convinced me that the goal of life was to have lots of money, which means I would have lots of people serving me. Now, my thoughts are flipped on their head as I believe I’m here to serve.

I’ve always believed that when everything in life gets too complicated, I can go back to Jesus’ simple commands….love God, and love others. Jesus says if we do those two things, everything else falls into place. (See Matthew 22:36-40) I also think that sums up the 5 S’s pretty well. God’s plan for our life is built out of our love relationship with Him and Him for us, and it is so pure and powerful that it works itself into our relationships.

Instead of wanting to be served, instead of getting easily offended, and instead of looking for faults in others, we look for the good in others and seek to love and serve them. And this is really not possible unless we are practicing the first 4 S’s.

God wants to use us for His purposes, and He needs vessels that are unhindered by the world, ones in whom His Spirit can work. Through ordinary men and women, who are filled by His Spirit and His gifts, He can do extraordinary works of love. These are the kinds of things that change the world. I’ve seen many people at the end of their lives, and when it is all said and done, all that really matters is how well we have loved.

I can tell you that I know God’s plan, as described by the 5 S’s, is possible because it has been modeled before my eyes. I’m thankful for Don, Dean, Winnie, Gorden, Tom, Gary, Bob, Shirley, and Carol, just to name a few.

So as you plan your life and your end of life, there’s nothing wrong with doing estate planning and such, but I do think that more important than thinking about how to FUND your life, you may want to ask God how to LIVE your life.