Deo ValenteFor 2013: Go on a diet.  Exercise.  Give more to charity.  Read through the Bible.  These are resolutions people make each year.  But I suggest there are two words to add to every resolution or plan we make.  Deo Volente, which is Latin for God Willing.

It is written in James 4:13-16…

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

CLICK HERE to listen to or read a message I delivered recently on Deo Volente titled, “And The Creeks Don’t Rise.”

When it comes to what we “will do” at any point in the future, it depends absolutely on God’s will.  IF God wills… we will live.  IF God wills… we will (fill in the blank).  If God doesn’t will it, it won’t happen.

If we neglect to consider God in making our plans… and say it to others… James writes that attitude is arrogant and evil.  Strong words worth taking into serious consideration.

What will your life be this time next year?  Only God knows.  Make your plans and with all diligence seek to carry them out… under God’s providence and care.  To do anything else is arrogant and evil.