Be Ready

When you think ab​out being ready, it might bring to mind thoughts of making plans. If you were going to go on vacation and take a road trip, there is a lot that goes into being ready to take that kind of trip. You have to make sure your vehicle is in good working condition, that you have the funds set aside to make the trip, and know all the places you will be staying if it's more than a day's trip. You plan ahead for these things so that you don’t have any hiccups, as far as you can control. You invest your time on planning the route you will drive and possibly even where you will need to stop for snacks or to eat a meal.

If you can spend all that time in preparation for a road trip, we should realize that planning to share the Gospel with others takes time and preparation as well. Not so much on what to say-- because the Gospel is something we should know by heart because it is how we were saved--- but rather, practicing to share with others on the street, in our workplaces, at the store, or even a park. We never know when the opportunity will arise, but we should be prepared and ready. There are many other worldviews, all be it, wrong ones, other than ours; It helps to have a basic understanding of them as well. 

However, the main focus of ours while getting ready should be the study of God and His word, the Bible. He and it are the only solid foundation on which we stand. Knowing Him and His word helps us as we speak with others. You can see what He says on every issues we deal with as humans here on this planet. God has laid up all the wisdom we need in His Word. We should take the time to read it and “renew our minds” with His word. It's like the old adage: “garbage in-garbage out."  The same is true for your thoughts and speech and how you will deal with others either throughout your day or witnessing to them. The more you saturate yourself with God's Word, the more it shows in your speech. You will start to notice it in your conversations and in your thought life. 

In Scripture, we are all told to be ready. One of the many places were told to be ready is in 2 Timothy 4:1-2. 

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

​You can clearly see that we are told to be ready to “preach the Word” at all times for many reasons. We are also told to do it “with complete patience."  If you notice at the beginning of the section we have here, you'll see that God will be the Judge over all and not that we should have a man centered reason for us sharing the Gospel.  It should however concern us that others are going to go to hell if they aren't born again before it's too late. Verse 2 speaks of a time coming when people won't listen because they would rather listen to false teachers than God. They will gnash their teeth at the sound doctrine found in the Word of God. When man speaks, it's comforting to the flesh of the unsaved because they want what the worldly man wants -- not God. Let us be ready, brothers and sisters, because the time is coming, and is coming soon, when we will be faced with the same thing about which we are warned. There are already many false teachers out there wooing the world into a slumber on their way to hell. Be ready and share the Gospel.

Jonathan Eckel