I Want To Be Ready!
Mark 6:8 - These were his (Jesus) words to them; “Take nothing with you for the journey except a staff - no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.”
2 Timothy 4:2 - Preach the Word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction.
What does it mean to be prepared? Is it having everything on your list ticked off and safely stowed? Sometimes. Is it knowing where you’re going, how long you’ll be there and when you’ll return? Sometimes.
In Mark 6:8 You tell the disciples to be ready by seemingly telling them not to be ready. All they were to take were a staff and the clothes on their backs. It doesn’t say so, but I’d bet they weren’t given months of time to prepare. How did the prepare? What did they prepare? They prepared their hearts and minds. They focused in on trusting Jesus. They ere told to walk off and have no fear for what they would eat or where they would sleep. They were given a mission.
When they returned they were overjoyed! They were fit, not starving, not exhausted. In fact, they were energized!
So, what does it mean to be prepared? In 2 Timothy 4:2 Paul tells Timothy (and us) to;
“Preach the Word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction.”
Be ready to do God’s work at any moment. Sometimes we know when we’re being called to preach and other times those “divine appointments” are seemingly dropped in our laps! Am I ready? I think I’m more ready now than I’ve even been before. But am I truly ready? Yes!! Because I know that if I’m called to go, or to speak, at the drop of a hat, my Lord will sustain me! I don’t have to worry about what I’ll eat or where I’ll sleep. If I’m being obedient then all is good and I am safe in the arms of my Jesus.
