To round things out, this is the final part of helping you thrive in 2013. Hopefully this P.L.A.N. will lead you closer to God and help you accomplish all that He has for you this year. The last letter “N” stands for “Now”. One of the facts to realize is that everything in the future will be affected by choices you make now. As Maixmus from the movie Gladiator said:

“What we do in life echoes in eternity.”

Because I believe this concept to be true, I cannot underscore how important “now” is. If you want your “plan” and God’s P.L.A.N. to succeed then you need to start NOW. Pray Now. Learn Now. Advance Now. Now! Now! Now!

I like what I heard about former coach Steve Mariucci. Reportedly when he was coaching for the 49er’s, he had a clock in  the locker room that had no numbers for the time. Instead, replacing the numbers was the word “now” at every slot. The point that the clock and Mariucci were making is that the time is “now”. The point couldn’t be clearer: the time to start anything is now! We all know that if we procrastinate, the chances of reaching the goal become less and less. We must realize that time is moving forward even if we aren’t!

Perhaps we should heed Moses’ advice from Psalm 90:12:

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

Many people have the practice of marking off each day of the calendar with an “x” but the question we must ask ourselves is: was the day wasted or invested? Was it well-spent? Because the fact is that we cannot undo or have a second chance to relive a day. It’s a one shot deal.

This is why it is so vitally important to make the most of each day and especially the days when you sense God speaking or leading you in a certain path or way. As Hebrews 3;15 says:

“Today, if you hear His voice,do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

May I offer a few thoughts about “Now”?

1) Now is all we have.

Even though we may feel fine, even invincible, we are not promised tomorrow. The evil one is a pro at talking us into waiting and putting off decisions that need to be made today. He is a grand master at coaxing us into waiting instead of acting. Please heed James’ admonition:

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes.

15 Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 

James 4:13-16

Since now is all we have, let’s make the most of the time we have and do what we need to do now!

2) Ideal moments may never come.

Sometimes we wait for a life-changing moment to inspire us to action but there is no promise of such events. What we fail to realize is that as we act now, we create the life-changing moments. Instead of waiting for some outward experience, let it happen within and create your ideal future.

3) Better now than never.

Being that we don’t know how much time we have left, it’s better to do things now than to never have them done. There are things we need to communicate and demonstrate to people around us. The tendency is to wait for the “right” time or moment. We can feel awkward or uncomfortable and therefore we never do what we desperately wanted or even needed to do. Don’t let that happen to you! Do what you need to do NOW! Say what you need to say NOW!

Hopefully these blog thoughts have been helpful as you move into 2013 and seek the Lord’s face. While making your “plans” to move from nowhere to where the Lord wants remember for that to happen you must start “nowhere“.

God bless you and make His face to shone upon you as you adopt His P.L.A.N. for your life this year.