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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Being prepared

 

Our editorial lesson for today deals with preparation. As in our spiritual preparation. It was inspired by a little story I read some time ago and I saved it thinking that I would someday do a lesson based upon its message. Today is that day.

In the Bible we have several passages that talk of being prepared. In general, these passages are seen in sort of a "negative" sense, in that they are warnings of not being prepared. A good example is the passage found in Amos 4:12 where God, through the prophet, has been warning Israel of their sins and their lack of repentance of them. He says; "Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel."

We sometimes sing an "invitation" song inspired by that passage entitled "Prepare To Meet Thy God."   Notice the first few words are "Careless soul, why will you linger..." That's about the same thing Amos was telling Israel - why are you lingering, why are you not repenting and coming back to God? Why are you not preparing to meet your God?

Here's the little story I mentioned earlier and I hope you find it as inspirational as I did. It's entitled: CAN YOU SLEEP WHEN THE WIND BLOWS?

"Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him. "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.

The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!" The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

MORAL: When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We must secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves. We don't need to understand, we just need to know that we can have peace in the midst of a storm. I hope you sleep well."

In keeping with the message of our little story on "being prepared," I'd like you to look with me at a message given us by the Apostle Paul in Col. 1:21-23. In my condensed version, he tells Christians that they have been "reconciled" from their "wicked works" by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. And, that they will remain "reconciled" on the condition that they "continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel...."

One last little thought on spiritual preparation. In the 25th chapter of Matthew we find Christ saying that there are two places "prepared" by The King (God). In verse 34 we find a place prepared for those on His "right hand," those He calls "the blessed of my Father." A place prepared from the very foundation of the world. John 14 tells us that this place is in heaven.

But, then look at verse 41. The King has also prepared a place for those on His "left hand." I don't like the description of this place because it's far different from the place prepared for the righteous, the blessed. This place is a place of "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

So, in closing, I think that a little inspection of our preparedness is in order and perhaps then we will be able to answer the question asked by the title of the story: CAN YOU SLEEP WHEN THE WIND BLOWS?"

Ron Covey

First Corinthians commentary:  Get the new First Corinthians commentary from www.abiblecommentary.com.  Preview the First Corinthians commentary through Google books at http://bit.ly/dfw86d.  Other Bible commentary material from www.abiblecommentary.com includes a FREE on-line Romans commentary:  http://bit.ly/3MRU5I  
 

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