“I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia, for I am planning to travel through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay awhile with you, possibly all winter, and then you can send me on my way to my next destination. This time I don’t want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me. In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost. There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.”
1 Corinthians 16:5-9 NLT
I’m writing this on the last day of 2025, although it will be a few days yet before my readers read it. Paul wrote about the plans he was making. He was totally committed to his work for the Lord, undertaking one missionary journey after another, making converts and establishing churches. He reminded the Corinthians, “For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified” (1 Corinthians 2-2:). A great place to start if evangelism is attempted. But as we know, we have a sceptical world around us who are like the people in 1 Corinthians 1:23, “So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense”. But that didn’t stop Paul from making plans because he saw the world around him as fields ripe for harvest. Then, as now, many people need to hear the Good News about Jesus, because they are depressed and weary from the constant bad news peddled by the media. Many people struggle to live the life they have found themselves in, facing issues such as illness, cost-of-living pressures, and poor-quality housing, among others. But the biggest issue people face is a lack of hope. Hope for the future. Hope for their family. In fact, I recently spoke with a lady whose children had decided not to have children themselves because they didn’t want to burden them with a life in the bad and sad world in which we live. So there is an increasing sense that living is pointless and to be endured, not enjoyed. But this is not what God intended when He created mankind.
What plans can we make to share the Good News with those around us in our neighbourhoods, communities and families? What about our workplaces or social clubs? Schools or colleges? Paul didn’t care about what people thought of him because he had his mind fixed on the goal of the Heavenly prize. Philippians 3:12b-14, “ … But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us”. Such motivation could only empower the plans Paul was making. But reading these verses begs the question: what plans are we making? What is the goal we are striving to reach? Are we actively trying to achieve it, or are we just warming a pew, waiting for the day when we die?
We pilgrims also have the opportunity to make plans for our families. We may be parents or grandparents, but we must make plans to nurture the younger members of our families so they grow up knowing God. We may not always express words, but they will look closely at how we live our lives. Referring to what the Lord had done for them, Moses instructed the Israelites, “But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren” (Deuteronomy 4:9). We have a testimony about which we must never be shy of sharing with others in our families.
We pilgrims also have the opportunity to make plans for our churches and fellowships. There is always the tendency to allow others to do the work necessary in a church, practical things like cleaning and serving. We must ask God to show us the plans He wants us to make so that we can live a church life, “loving our neighbours as ourselves”. And then those of us still in employment can make plans to help and encourage our fellow workers, showing them the practical side of Christianity so that perhaps one day they will ask us how they too can be saved.
“Speak Lord, Your servant is listening”
In the year before us, what plans can we make for Jesus? Worth a prayer of two? But more than that, in response to our prayers, God might ask us to do something outrageous as He did to Ananias, when He told him to go and pray for Saul after his Damascus Road encounter with Jesus. We also need to have the same attitude as Samuel. Remember the story, “And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening”” (1 Samuel 3:10). When we pray for God to help us in our plans, we need to listen. And God, seeing a heart willing to serve, will bless us richly with an answer.
Dear Father God, we pray today for Your input into our plans. Please lead us in this next season in our lives, because, regardless of our ages, You have work for us to do. May the year before us be filled with Your blessings in all that we do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 