The Three Step Plan
August 4, 2010 • By Ed Wrather
For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. - Titus 3:3-7 NKJV.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. - Proverbs 16:25 NKJV.
In South Africa, a man went on a ride in the Pilatus PC-7 Mk II plane, apparently with not enough instruction in the proper situations in which to make use of the ejection seat. The man's story was that he was trying to steady himself while the pilot was making a maneuver, and grabbed the yellow and black handle for emergency ejection between his legs. The result was a memorable experience for the unnamed man, when two rockets ignited that were attached to his seat, blasting him out of the plane. Thankfully, the parachute opened as designed, and a helicopter picked him up with no apparent injuries 80 miles to the north of Cape Town.
Without the divine guidance of God, it is like pulling the emergency ejection handle, and being blasted out into the unknown at the mercy of the winds of life blowing us from place to place. Without divine guidance, we think we know what is right, but inevitably make wrong decision after wrong decision; because we are “foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.” “There is a way that seems right to a man” and that way is littered with mistakes.
Once you have pulled the ejection handle in error, how do you ever get back on track with your life?
Step One is to turn to God and ask for help. Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You will receive His mercy, His renewing, becoming an heir of God “according to the hope of eternal life.”
Step Two is to seek God's guidance for everything and every area of your life. Put your focus in life upon what God wants because to be “spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6b).”
Step Three is to learn more and more from God's Word about what He wants in your life. Read His Word, study His Word, memorize His Word, and meditate upon His Word; and then “you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Joshua 1:8b).” You will then be “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper (Psalm 1:3).”
Please, before you grab hold of that ejection handle one more time to blast you out to who knows where – consider the three step plan above that will bring real life, peace, success, and prosperity into your world. God loves you, and He is the only One who can give you what your soul is thirsting for. Begin now to follow the three step plan that will change your life eternally. If you have never invited Jesus Christ into your heart and life to be your Lord and Savior, that is where you need to start (John 1:12; John 3:16; Romans 10:13; Revelation 3:20). If you do know Jesus as your Savior, but have wandered away, 1 John 1:9 is the place for you to start. Will you begin the three step plan to real life, or will you blast off to nowhere once again?