In our Campmeeting 2021, different ministers taught wonderful messages in the morning services that helped us all so much. During the service taught by Pastor Chris Cody, he made the following statements. (I’m probably paraphrasing.)

What kind of end do you want? We should want one that is peaceful and glorifying. What we do every day is going to determine what kind of end we will have. Think about it and pay attention to what you do every day with the end in mind. 

We can’t live our life out of order and have the kind of results God has for us. Part of order is preparing for what’s ahead. Even if we are being faithful at the place we are today, we still have to save time today to prepare for what is ahead, or we won’t qualify for where we are headed. Lack of preparation will disqualify us. We shouldn’t just be trying to get to the “end of the day,” without preparing for where we are headed. You can’t let life happen – you have to make life happen. 

     One of these statements has stuck with me, so I want to spotlight it. “Part of order is preparing for what’s ahead.” 

     It is so easy for us to get to the place where we are just dealing with the things that arise that day instead of designing our day and our life with our God-given purpose in mind. Are we making certain that what we are giving ourselves to every day is going to help us arrive at God’s best? Are we prepared to go where God wants to take us?

     No matter where we are in the plan of God, He always wants to take us further, and before He can do that, we must BE PREPARED to go further! With that in mind, we have to order our day so that we make time to prepare.

     Dad Hagin would tell us, “Preparation time is never lost time.” Some things seem to press on our schedules so much, but we are to evaluate whether or not those things are preparing us to move forward.

     I love something one great faith pioneer of the past stated in his writings: “Before I take on a task, I ask myself, Is this going to help me in my race?” He was showing how mindful he was of the plan and purpose God had for his life, and he wasn’t willing to sell that off to distractions and unnecessary activities.

     We won’t just float into fulfilling the plan of God for our lives – we will only arrive there on purpose – as we make very purposeful steps. Paul warns us about this. “Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:15-17, AMPC).

     Time is short. We don’t have time to wander and waste. We must live accurately and with clarity of purpose – ordering our lives and our days so that we are preparing to advance into all that God’s plan holds for us.

     For 30 years, Jesus did what He wasn’t born for. He worked as a carpenter, but the entire time He was preparing for the final three years of His earthly life so He could fulfill all. Yes, there are preparation seasons in our life, but during that time, we want to make sure we are being faithful to prepare for where we are headed and not just stay where we are at. We do that by responding to God and being obedient to Him.

     Make life’s decisions with your purpose in mind – and not just your profession or job in mind. The life choices Jesus was making every day as a carpenter weren’t just with the carpentry business in mind – He was making choices that would prepare Him for what He was born for.

He came to be the Savior of mankind, and even though He was the Son of God, He still had to order His life and His days so that He would be prepared for His purpose. 

     We too must order our lives and our days with our purpose in mind – not with just our income, professions, or life’s responsibilities in mind. 

     God has a purpose for us all, and we have a part to play so that purpose can be fulfilled. Let us order our days so that we will be prepared to move with God and lay hold of all He has planned for us.