Who's in charge here?

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death. 

(Leonardo da Vinci)

Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word. Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good;
God probes for what is good. Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place. (Proverbs 16:1-3 MSG)

Whatever a man pursues with purpose and passion will determine the outcome of that course of action. If the course of action is 'flawed' in any manner, the plan may have been good, but the outcome may not be as planned. The man or woman who desires a 'positive' outcome to life choices must first submit one's life to the leadership of Christ Jesus, then be committed to submitting their choices to him prior to launching out on their journey.

The elaborate plans of man to find some 'good' in life are as varied as the sands of the sea. Mankind has always looked for ways to 'do things themselves' but that hasn't always worked out so well for mankind has it? The determination to 'be good' by doing good deeds is debunked by looking at scripture. Mankind is inherently evil, born with a sin prone to sin, so simply doing good works won't change one's heart. Mankind needs an exchange of heart - broken and hardened hearts bent toward sin exchanged for tender hearts made new by the power of Jesus.

God probes for what is 'good' in our lives - but he doesn't count on us being able to produce goodness without his presence within us. The very presence of God within us is what brings about the ability to see 'goodness' and 'kindness' brought forth within our actions. There is nothing that can substitute for the grace and goodness of God changing a sinful heart - no action of mankind can produce the same effect. Man's plans to 'be good' will continually fall short of 'good' because we use a flawed tool to measure our 'goodness'.

What elaborate plans will you make that are not really part of God's plans for your life? We find ourselves always 'scheming' when we have not made a life commitment to follow Jesus. One scheme leads to another, always looking for the 'next best thing' or something that will somehow appease our guilt-ridden conscience. Sin cannot be swept under the carpet, nor can our conscience be cleansed by anything other than the 'action' of inviting Christ into our lives. If we want to understand where our plans will lead - we need to know who is in charge of those plans. If it is us - the outcome is not likely to be as we planned. Just sayin!