PLAN WELL
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
Proverbs 21:5 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
“Good planning”—what is that?
There is an old saying, “Plan your work and work your plan!” I believe this is a modern way of saying what Solomon tells us in our passage today.
Some people don’t seem to think that planning is spiritual. They think it is more spiritual just to wait and see what the Spirit directs them to do each moment of the day. This is the same mindset I faced when I first went into ministry almost 50 years ago. There were preachers who didn’t think they should plan their sermons. They just got up and read whatever Bible passage came to mind and said whatever came to their mind. They felt like they were being spiritual by not planning a sermon.
You can imagine those sermons were usually very long and hard to follow. It was a shotgun approach that scattered pellets everywhere. I discovered the Holy Spirit could speak to me on Tuesday morning about my Sunday message so I could have time to properly prepare and organize my thoughts. That did not make me less spiritual, it made me more prepared.
The same thing can happen in our money and time as well as any area of our lives.
I believe “good planning” when it comes to our finances is having a budget. And having a budget that we stick to is “hard work.” But it is hard work that “leads to prosperity.”
The same principle can be applied to our time and any area that we want growth. I am a list maker. Every day I review my list of what needs to be done today. I look at my day in blocks of time and think ahead at how I can get my list done. Usually on Friday or Saturday I look ahead at the next week to prepare for my schedule. I want to use my time wisely.
The opposite is “hasty shortcuts” and those lead to “poverty.” Every store you walk into has a plan to get you to purchase something you don’t plan to purchase. It is called impulse buying. They know that if you see something displayed in a good way the chances you will purchase it increases greatly.
The same works with social media. I can’t seem to scroll through my social media without advertisements for something that my emotions think is a good deal.
Learning to operate your life on a financial budget and time budget will also help you operate the rest of your life on a plan as well.
Time can be budgeted so that you don’t get out of control with your schedule. I tend to work in time blocks. When I know I am having a lot to do I plan a block of down time to recharge my batteries. When I know I have that block coming it makes it easier to go through the hectic times.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit help me live with a plan. Help me not to be controlled by my emotions and get myself in trouble financially or physically.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”