Preparation for Mission

First Thursday, whole Church Prayer Meeting for Liberty Community Church, this evening. The major theme was the week of mission (reaching out to share the Gospel with others) in the local community. Although this isn't due to be held until the beginning of August, preparation is already under way, and many folk have indicated their desire to be involved in one capacity or another.

Of course, preparation is so necessary in every area of life. Our senior pupils return to school this week, after their period of Standard, and Higher, Grade examinations. For them, there is now the long wait for the results; but the one thing of which I would be fairly confident is that those who gain the highest marks will be those who did the study, and the revision - in other words, those who put in the necessary preparation.

I've already mentioned, in an earlier post, the coming Olympic Games in Beijing. The athletes who will compete there, in not too many weeks' time, will only do as well as their preparation. They will have spent years working towards this, for them, major goal. No-one who failed to prepare would be chosen to compete, let alone win a medal.

In just over three weeks, D.V., my dear wife and I will be heading off to the continent with our caravan for our annual summer holiday. But already we have done a fair bit of preparation - booking the ferry; talking about where we would like to go, and who we would like to visit; thinking about how many euros we will have to take with us to cover all of the necessary expenses.

Jesus told the well-known parable of the two builders (Matthew 7:24-27). One built his house on solid rock, having gone to the trouble of finding such a safe spot. The other man took the easy way out, and just built where he was - unfortunately, on sand. When the storms came, and the floods rose, guess who's house stood??! That's right - the house of the man who had prepared properly, and who, therefore, had a good foundation for his building.

I'm also finishing off some teaching on the Rites of Passage with my 1st year pupils, and that means talking about death. It's an experience that, until the return of the Lord Jesus, will come to each one of us. The sad thing is that so many seem to have made no preparation for that event. Jesus said to His disciples: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1-3;NKJV). If He has gone to the trouble of preparing a place for us, and has promised to be there with us, what a shame it is that so many give no thought to Him, or to His claim on their lives.

I was never in the Boy Scouts (although I served in almost every rank in The Boys' Brigade), but I have always loved their motto - "Be Prepared". For this life, and for the next, it's very good advice!