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It is good to examine ourselves and see what things are driving us in our life. Some Christians like to imagine that they have surrendered their life to God and that now it would be wrong to make plans or decisions about their life. Hasn't God said, they say, that He will complete what He has begun? The problem is that such people may not even realise it if they are being driven by a pursuit of money, fame, pleasure, people's opinions, etc. Their philosophy tells them that since God is in control over their lives, He will take responsibility for every detail of their life and they don't have to worry. Actually, when we say that God is in full control of everything, we must not think that it is He who is responsible for everything that happens. That will make Him the author of evil too! No. He is in control in the sense that He is able to do whatever He wants, and He is able to intervene in man's affairs whenever He wants. But since He has created us with a free will and He allows us to do whatever we want to the extent that He permits, we are responsible for a lot of things that happen, especially for the things that go wrong.

We mustn't fool ourselves; whatever we do will have consequences, good or bad (Ga.6:7). It is because we are the ones who choose what we do that we are rewarded or punished for what we do (Ro.2:6). Our sins are not automatically 'covered by the blood', but all of us have to give an account to God for what we do (Ro.14:12). This is not a loose statement, because Jesus clarified that we are going to be held responsible even for any careless word we speak (Mt.12:36).

But to live in fear of punishment or seeking reward is a low way of living. God has granted us a much higher privilege of being recognised as His children, making us co-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ, and of becoming transformed into His character (2Pe.1:3,4). To see what kind of a privilege this is, all we have to do is to look at what we were before God gave us His grace, and think of where we would be if we had not come to the Saviour.

What God wants to do for us, in this life, is primarily to save us from our sins and make us like Him in our character. If we agree with this, but then go on to living our life the way everyone else lives, pursuing money, pleasure, greatness, etc., we cannot expect to automatically receive what God has planned. We will only reap what we have sown. "If you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Ro.8:13). If we don't put down the sinful desires that come up from our flesh and instead do the will of God in our daily life, we will not become like Jesus, just because we believe. When God works inside us and gives us understanding and power, it is we who have to actually do what is pleasing to Him (Php.2:12,13).

This itself will not happen unless we set our mind on it, and run towards that destination.

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