BE PREPARED
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Gen 9, Matt 9, Ezra 9, Acts 9
Proverbs 24:27 prepare your outside work, make it fit for yourself in the field; afterward build your house.
Success in any endeavor requires preparation. The elders have saying
‘those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. The preparation could be
spiritual, physical, emotional, financial or material. Why does one need
to prepare for success? Well, every form of success brings its own
responsibilities. A single fellow is responsible for only himself. Once
he gets married and starts having children, his responsibilities
doubles. He now needs to look after himself, wife and the children. The
same thing happens when one is promoted at work, gains admission, starts
a new business or a ministry. Buried in these responsibilities are also
challenges. In other words the more the responsibilities the more the
challenges. This is why we all need to remember our leaders (spiritual,
political and all) because they have a lot of responsibilities and are
faced with a lot of challenges.
When we talk of preparation,
the most important form of preparation needed is a spiritual one. The
spiritual runs the physical. John 6:63 says it is the spirit that gives
life; the flesh profits nothing. One needs to prepare in fasting,
praying and studying of the word of God. When David was just an ordinary
shepherd boy responsible for only the sheep he had little or no
challenges. Immediately the man of God anointed him king over Israel (1
Samuel 16:13), his responsibilities double and out of nowhere challenges
started coming. First it was the lion that took a lamb out of the
flock; next it was the bear; after the bear came Goliath; immediately
after Goliath was Saul; just as he was celebrating the death of Saul
came his flesh and so on. Despite all these challenges David kept on
making progress. What was his secret? Firstly bible studies – David hid
God’s word in his heart so as not to sin against God, Psalm 119:11.
Secondly praying and fasting – David fasted until his knees was weak and
his flesh was feeble from lack of fatness, Psalm 109:24. Samson on the
other hand refused to prepare for success. When the promotion came and
he became the judge in Israel, he just ate and drank. Before he knew it,
the enemies caught him and took out his two eyes. Asides spiritual
preparation one needs to learn self discipline – discipline in conduct,
words, character, time keeping, finances to mention a few. Many have
lost major breakthroughs through poor timekeeping. I know of a brother
who despite the fact that the answers he provided during a job interview
was not satisfactory still got the job all because he came an hour
early for the interview. The manager was so impressed by his timekeeping
that he decided to ignore the late comers that gave correct answers and
offer him the job. Part of preparation for success is having integrity.
David succeeded as king because of his integrity. Psalm 78:72 said he
shepherd Israel with the integrity of his heart.
KEY WORD: He who fails to prepare, prepares to fail
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