BE PREPARED

By Gerald Cumby
Preparedness! What does the bible say about being prepared?

1 Corinthians 16:13, "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong."

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."

Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

When we hear the word "preparedness" or "preppers," what image do these words refer to in your mind?

• Do you imagine an armed to the teeth, gun toting, wild looking individual who is living in the middle of nowhere, ready to defend family and fort from the onslaught of the New World Order?
• Or...do you see people spending every spare cent on making canned goods and storing them in secret places in the house or storage, getting survival food and buying supplies of antibiotics.

Some of the unfriendly folk...and even some of our kinfolk and friends might think like this when the word "preparedness' is mentioned. This is how the mainstream media portrays many who do claim to be "preppers," and...there are some of these folks that come across as a little crazy at times.

"The sky is falling...the sky is falling!" REALLY??
What about what happened during the COVID panic/pandemic?

People buying up all the paper products and all the staple goods that were available at the time. Even today there are things that we don't have because the ships with "stuff" aren't able to make port. Low on electricity and low on gas...does all this make sense?

For the Christian "preparedness" or "being prepared" is about so much more than "Beans, Band-Aids, and Bullets." The Bible talks quite a bit about preparedness and has examples of where God has asked people to prepare.

So where does the Bible talk about God asking people to prepare?

Matthew 24:42-43 "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

Who was told to prepare in the Bible? Answer: Many times God told people of the Bible times to prepare!

• "Noah...get ready, don't wait...do what I ask!" (GOD)
  This is an account in Genesis 5:32 to Chapter 10:1. Noah was told to build an ark. God could have done it for him. No...Noah was to do it! God furnished the plans, but He wanted his creation to do it. The ark was built in preparation for the flood. "As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them." God asked Noah to do some prepping!
• Joseph...get ready (prepare) for the famine. Joseph listened to God and as per Pharaoh's dream of 7 good years and 7 bad years, and the advice to save a fifth of the abundant crops, "God had instructed for Joseph to prepare". This prepping saved the Egyptian people and also those people in nearby lands including Joseph's original family. God asked Joseph to do some prepping.

So, what else does the Bible have to say about prepping and preparing?
I see that God teaches us to be prepared in at least four (4) areas of our lives. They would be:

• Resource Preparedness (food, etc.)
• Physical Preparedness (the body)
• Mental Preparedness
• Spiritual Preparedness (Today and Tomorrow/Future)

Resource preparedness = Have your personal finances in proper order. Have your "things" organized and amply supplied, as necessary. Work with "the good neighbor policy in mind." Realize that we can't take things with us when we pass, but we can be one that family, friends, and neighbors will say he/she lived life with a spirit of excellence.

Proverbs 28:19-20, "One who works his land will have plenty of food, but one who follows empty pursuits will have plenty of poverty. A faithful person will abound with blessings; But one who hurries to be rich will not go unpunished."

Proverbs 6:6-8, "Go to the ant, you lazy one, observe its ways and be wise, Which, having no chief, Officer, or ruler, prepares its food in the summer and gathers its provision in the harvest."

Physical Preparedness = Since our body is the home of the Holy Spirit, it is important that we do everything we can to help the Holy Spirit as well as our spouse/family, etc. to feel we are taking care of our bodies as best we know how.

1 Timothy 4:8, "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."

As a Christian your body does not belong to you, it is God's body and that is the best reason to look after it. It is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
1st Corinthians 6:19 - 20, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies."

Mental Preparedness = mental preparedness is something of an attitude or an act of will and can be very much contrary to what we are both feeling and thinking.

1 Corinthians 16:13, "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong." Men...if you want to see mental and physical toughness/preparedness then witness a woman going through childbirth. Men should never complain about anything.

We should also be alert and prepared to go against Satan and his cohorts. He is always after us...if we let him, he will get us mentally before he gets to us spiritually.

1 Peter 5:8, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Be on the alert for situations that might harm ourselves or family.

Proverbs 22:3, The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty."

Spiritual Preparedness = This is the most important aspect of preparedness. Being spiritually prepared supersedes all other forms of preparedness. God tells us in His word about being spiritually prepared and how we should (and in some cases "must") apply it to our lives.

The Present/Today
Matthew 24:42-43, "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Mark 13:33-37, "Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. "It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. "Therefore, be on the alert – for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning.
in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. "What I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!'"
Luke 12:35-38, "Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit."
Luke 21:36, "But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

If you look at the verses above, God so often calls us to be alert, to be on our guard, to be watchful, to be prayerful, to be ready.
We have today to make preparation for tomorrow.

Be actively planning for your journey to the final destination.
1 Peter 4:7, "The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer."
Romans 3:11, "And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

Tomorrow/the Future Preparation:

More than planning...Do the preparation to make that final thrust to reach for the finish line. God plans for our salvation and our active support of the Christian message. He has prepared a place for us!

However, God leaves it up to us to prepare for our homecoming (no rain outs, no staying home because of COVID, etc.).

Just as we have a choice to make Jesus Lord of our lives and have the Holy Spirit to reside in us, we have a choice to prepare for the upheavals and turmoil that will be invading our world. We know where we are going...make arrangements for you and others to make that journey home...where we will hear the Lord say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Luke 21:36, "But stay alert at all times, praying that you will have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

John 14:1b-4, "My Father's house has many mansions; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."