Be Strong in the Lord part 5

Stand firm then, …  with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

Yesterday was Easter Sunday.  A special time for family and friends to gather together.  For Christians, it is often marked as a day of remembrance (even if it doesn’t technically agree with the calendar).  As part of our day, we invited families into our home to share the time with us and to enjoy fellowship.  At the final count, there were 17 of us for lunch ranging in age from seven to sixty something: eight adults, two older teens, four younger teens and and three children.

Having fellowship in our home and offering hospitality is one of the great joys that the Lord has given me.  I find a great deal of fulfillment in opening our home and loving others in this way.  As it was, with that number, there was some planning involved in ensuring that there was enough food for everyone, that the meat and potatoes were both hot at the same time, that everyone had a place to sit, you get the idea.  We needed to prepare for the occasion.  We needed to get ready for what was ahead.  Before people came we marinaded the meat, we made dessert, we laid out the seating, we purchased needed supplies.  I grew up watching my mother open her home.  My mother in law also practices hospitality.  There were lessons along the way for me to learn and I learned them from experts.

Having our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace is no different than learning how to have folks in for dinner or games or even from learning to drive a car.  The first thing you need is source material.  I read the Driver’s Handbook before I got behind the wheel on the road.  When I was about four years old, my parents were visiting with friends and I was playing in car in the driveway.  My parents were right there I should have been safe.  I didn’t know anything about cars.  I didn’t know what this stick-like thing in the middle did.  After the car hit the brand new chimney, I became very aware that it was something NOT to touch.  The point is, I was in a situation where I had no instruction.  There was no preparedness.  At four, I was not ready to be driving the car!

As a Christian, I need to be ready for the day to day.  The things that surround me often require action and/or reaction.  The only way for me to know what the Lord wants me to do is to ask Him.  His answer will come through prayer, counsel, Scripture, circumstances, common sense and the Holy Spirit.  That is reaction.  To be ready for action, I need to access these things, learn the lessons BEFORE I need to react.  There are so many heartaches that can be avoided if we know ahead of time what we should and shouldn’t do, where the dangers of the world lie and how to stay away from them.

2 Timothy 2:15
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

God’s Word tells us that we need to study it and in so doing, we will know Him and be ready to live for Him and serve Him with our whole hearts.

2 Timothy 3:15-17

 ¹⁵And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
 ¹⁶All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
 ¹⁷That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Proverbs 22:17-19

Thirty Sayings of the Wise

    Saying 1 ¹⁷ Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise;
   apply your heart to what I teach,
¹⁸ for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart
   and have all of them ready on your lips.
¹⁹ So that your trust may be in the LORD,
   I teach you today, even you.

Jeremiah 33:3

³ ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

The Psalmist wrote,

Psalm 119:10
I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.

and God responded,

Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

He is waiting for us to come to the safety of the knowledge of Him.  Will you ready yourself today?