> > Travholt: I know this is probably what you mean
> >anyway, but I have to make this point: Doing or
> >not doing any of those things are not
> >*inherently* sin. BUT, any of things *could* be
> >a sin for certain people. It WOULD be a sin for
> >someone not to be a missionary to Africa or an
> >evangelist in the streets, if that was God's
> >plan for that person's life and they ignored it
> >and even rebelled against it.
>
> But I don't want God to have a plan for my life. I want my own will to do what I want, whether that be in the service of God or otherwise.
>
> I would only accept a God that *asked* me to follow his plan, and left the decision entirely up to me. Furthermore, any God who would punish me for *not* following his plan and instead deciding my own fate wouldn't be much worth to me anyway. If my manager at work "asks" me to do something and then punishes me for not doing it, then he was never really asking in the first place--he was commanding, and I ticked him off by saying no. I find that vindictive and petty--two things I don't want in any God I might choose to worship.
>
> -- Dave

Koalamom's response is excellent. This post adds to it, but it seems to fit better here.

God's plan for any person's life is by definition the life that would be best for that person. I am reminded of a verse, Jeremiah 29.11:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Likewise, a person who goes against such a plan can only find dissatisfaction. He or she could call it punishment, but it's just consequences.

gab"It took me a good long time to find that verse--for some inscrutable reason, no form of the word 'plan' is listed in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance."by