Participation required...

While I was a student at Oklahoma Baptist University, there were a couple of pertinent questions that always got asked. Name? Major? Hometown? These are the three questions that were always asked when meeting a fellow student for the first time. As I became involved in Bible studies and ministry groups on campus, I discovered another pertinent question: What is your life verse? 

My life verse in college was Proverbs 3:5-6. (There's a really nifty story about the summer Olympics that goes along with it but that's for another post.)  Back to this post, I would have to guess that the life verse of at least 50% of the other students was Jeremiah 29:11.  This was an oft-quoted verse at OBU. 

I like the concept of this verse but I think many people have the wrong idea about what it means (besides not knowing the historical context of how it relates to the Babylonian captivity - but again, that's another post.) Yes, God planned each one of us and formed us in the womb (Psalm 139).  He created each of us with a plan and purpose in mind.  

However...these plans and purposes do not come about on their own. There is a another ingredient that is needed. Participation. God also created each of us with a free will.  We have a choice of whether or not to follow God's plan for our life.  I, myself, have spent the last few years of my life only partially participating, and I believe that God has so much more for me.