God has given man free will to choose although He has a preferred plan for us. Have you heard of the phrase “don’t be a Jonah” which means running away from doing the right thing in life?
Jonah 1:3,10-12 (NKJV) But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord…Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?”… Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous.And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”
Jonah went in the opposite direction from Nineveh where God had called him to go when he boarded the ship for Tarshish. He was running away from God’s calling, plan and will for his life. He was silly enough to flee from the omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent God! Jonah had probably never heard of the phrase “you can run but you cannot hide”. Not surprisingly, God found him.
Luke 4:43 (NKJV) but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
Jesus was fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant where He was called to preach to the people of Israel. Jesus was sent by God to the world to die for the sins of mankind. Even though Jesus was sent to proclaim the Kingdom of God to the people of Israel, God’s heart is for the all the nations to be saved. That’s the desire and the plan of God where He wants all the families of the earth to be blessed. It is true that the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few especially at a time when the church is more inward than outward looking. Jesus was sent to a godless generation to save them from their sins. He has done the work of redemption, and therefore He is sending all of us into the marketplace, neighbourhood, schools, universities and the world to spread the good news.
Because of the submission of Jesus, God’s plan of salvation through Him for mankind was fulfilled, but we must constantly strive to understand God’s will and plan through His Word and our prayers with the help of the Holy Spirit and let His plan for us unfold smoothly.
The question is are you living solely for the small fraction of eternity, which is our life on earth, or for the entirety of eternity? God wants us to live intentionally and purposefully by aligning our plans with His that lead to eternity. His will and plan will work best for us and for the greater good of mankind.
Sermon Series: Smooth Sailing
神的旨意和计划是对我们最好的安排
尽管神对我们有一个首选计划，祂依旧给了我们自由意志来作出选择。你是否听过 “别像约拿那样”这句话，意思是不要逃避做生命中正确的事。
约拿书1:3,10-12 约拿却起来，逃往他施去躲避耶和华；下到约帕，遇见一只船，要往他施 去。他就给了船价，上了船，要与船上的人同往他施去躲避耶和华。……他们就大大惧怕，对他说：“你做的是什么事呢？”他们已经知道他躲避耶和华，因为他告诉了他们。他们问他说：“我们当向你怎样行，使海浪平静呢？”这话是因海浪越发翻腾。他对他们说：“你们将我抬起来，抛在海中，海就平静了；我知道你们遭这大风是因我的缘故。”
约拿在神呼召他前往尼尼微时，却上船前往方向相反的他施。他逃避神对他生命的呼召、计划和旨意。他真傻，竟然想要躲避无所不 在、无所不知、无所不能的神! 约拿可能没听过“你跑得了却躲不过”这句话。不出所 料，神找到了他。
路加福音4:43 但耶稣对他们说：“我也必须在别城传神国的福音，因我奉差原是为此。”
耶稣正在履行亚伯拉罕之约，在那里祂被呼召向以色列民传道。耶稣被神派往人世间去为人类的罪而死。虽然祂被差遣去向以色列民宣告神的国，但神的心意是为了拯救世上所有的族类。这是神的愿望和计划，祂希望世上的每家每户都能得到祝福。的确，要收的庄稼多,做工的人少，特别是在教会更多注重内在发展而非外在扩展的时候。耶稣被送到这个不敬虔的世代，拯救他们脱离罪恶。祂已经完成了救赎的工作，因此祂将我们所有人差遣至职场、邻里、学校、大学乃至全世界去传扬福音。
因着耶稣的顺服，神藉祂来救赎人类的计划得以实现，但我们必须通过圣经以及圣灵帮助之下的祷告，不断努力明白上帝的旨意及计划，并让祂的计划在我们身上得以顺利开展。
问题是，你是为了在世上这永恒中的一小段生命而活，还是为了整个永恒生命而活？神希望我们有意识并有目的地生活，使我们的计划与祂那通向永生的计划保持一致。祂的旨意和计划对于我们将是最有效的，也是为了人类更大的益处。
讲章系列：一帆风顺
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