Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. James 4:13-15, (KJV)

What plans do you have for your life? What hopes and dreams are you chasing? There is nothing wrong with planning, hoping, and dreaming so long as your plans, hopes, and dreams are coming from the right source – God. Also, there is nothing wrong with chasing those plans, hopes, and dreams so long as you chase them at the right pace – God’s.

All too often, we set our own goals without consulting God. All too often, we work ourselves into a frenzy pursuing the plans we’ve made for ourselves, living life at such a pace that we have no time for the blessings that God desires to bestow upon us.

God didn’t create us to seek riches, stature, or glory. “Labour not to be rich,” God tells us in Proverbs 23: 4-5, “cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.” Rather, God created us to live a life rich in relationships – relationships with Himself first and with others second (see Matthew 22: 36-40). When we establish and pursue any plans that kick those relationships to the curb, we’ve made a grave mistake. We’ve focused on our will rather than God’s.

You and I ought to say every day of our lives, “If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” The “this” and “that” ought to be the goals and the pace of life that God has ordained for each of us, not the goals and the pace of life that we’ve established for ourselves (or, for that matter, that someone else has established for us). It is when we identify and progressively realize God’s plans for our lives that we truly live excellently in His eyes. And, when we understand that each day could very well be our last, we ought pursue God’s goals with whatever level of fervor he has embedded in each of our personalities. Live excellently, my friend – which is to say, march at God’s pace towards God’s goals for your life, my friend – one day at a time!