Preparation. An interesting word that involves effort.
When Charlie and I felt we were to have a garden, we didn’t just walk out to the pasture and say, “This is it. This is the garden…” and walk away. We began to make plans. We asked questions. How big did we want the garden to be? What would we plant? How should we prepare the ground? What time of the year should we work the ground? When should we purchase the plants or would we start them from seeds? When would it be ready?
We are told to count the cost. That means to consider what it will take to do the work. Many people plan and even begin a good work, but not as many finish.
Preparation begins with making a decision – and a commitment – as to what you are going to do. You can have all the good intentions in the world, but if you stop with the concept and never actually prepare or do the work, you will never reach the goal.
After your make your decision, then you must ask questions, think through the process, re-think the process…and then begin to work. You may even have to spend some time studying what it is that you need to do...especially if what you are doing is something you have never done before. You must do the work and, in the right order. Reaching the goal and getting the desired results involves endurance, perseverance and following through with the plan.
For example, when I think about celebrating Thanksgiving (which is next Thursday), Charlie and I sit down and make a plan. We invite people to come for our celebration. (This year, we are spending Thanksgiving with our children and grandchildren and a few additional friends and family.) Then, when I know who is coming and how many people to plan for, I begin to ask questions: What will we have to eat? Will I need an extra table or two? How will we seat everyone? How will we serve the food?
I make a list of things we are going to eat and collect my recipes. I go to the store and purchase the food. I write out a timetable for when to prepare the food… what has to be served hot and what needs to be cold. I plan the table settings and decorations.
It normally takes much more time to prepare for the event as it takes for the actual event itself. For example, it takes hours just to make my cornbread dressing and stuff and bake the turkey, and the meal is usually eaten in less than an hour.
As I consider my spiritual life, the question is, “What am I doing to prepare for the future?”
In the last book of the Bible, called Revelation, toward the end (19:7), it says, “…The bride has made herself ready.” When John, the disciple of Jesus who recorded God’s word in Revelation, speaks about the Bride, He is referring to the Church. The Church is every Christian who has given their heart to Christ. The Church is the Bride, who will spend eternity in heaven with her Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. That is why we as Christians are so passionate about Jesus Christ… because He is our heavenly bridegroom.
History began with a wedding, as God created the first man and woman and gave them to each other. And history will end with a wedding, when Jesus Christ has the wedding feast with His Bride, the Church…all Christians. We will then live eternally together, in unity and harmony as one Body, one Church, one Bride, with shared passion…for God, in a heavenly marriage to Him.
So, what are you doing to prepare yourself to be that heavenly Bride?
When Charlie and I felt we were to have a garden, we didn’t just walk out to the pasture and say, “This is it. This is the garden…” and walk away. We began to make plans. We asked questions. How big did we want the garden to be? What would we plant? How should we prepare the ground? What time of the year should we work the ground? When should we purchase the plants or would we start them from seeds? When would it be ready?
We are told to count the cost. That means to consider what it will take to do the work. Many people plan and even begin a good work, but not as many finish.
Preparation begins with making a decision – and a commitment – as to what you are going to do. You can have all the good intentions in the world, but if you stop with the concept and never actually prepare or do the work, you will never reach the goal.
After your make your decision, then you must ask questions, think through the process, re-think the process…and then begin to work. You may even have to spend some time studying what it is that you need to do...especially if what you are doing is something you have never done before. You must do the work and, in the right order. Reaching the goal and getting the desired results involves endurance, perseverance and following through with the plan.
For example, when I think about celebrating Thanksgiving (which is next Thursday), Charlie and I sit down and make a plan. We invite people to come for our celebration. (This year, we are spending Thanksgiving with our children and grandchildren and a few additional friends and family.) Then, when I know who is coming and how many people to plan for, I begin to ask questions: What will we have to eat? Will I need an extra table or two? How will we seat everyone? How will we serve the food?
I make a list of things we are going to eat and collect my recipes. I go to the store and purchase the food. I write out a timetable for when to prepare the food… what has to be served hot and what needs to be cold. I plan the table settings and decorations.
It normally takes much more time to prepare for the event as it takes for the actual event itself. For example, it takes hours just to make my cornbread dressing and stuff and bake the turkey, and the meal is usually eaten in less than an hour.
As I consider my spiritual life, the question is, “What am I doing to prepare for the future?”
In the last book of the Bible, called Revelation, toward the end (19:7), it says, “…The bride has made herself ready.” When John, the disciple of Jesus who recorded God’s word in Revelation, speaks about the Bride, He is referring to the Church. The Church is every Christian who has given their heart to Christ. The Church is the Bride, who will spend eternity in heaven with her Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. That is why we as Christians are so passionate about Jesus Christ… because He is our heavenly bridegroom.
History began with a wedding, as God created the first man and woman and gave them to each other. And history will end with a wedding, when Jesus Christ has the wedding feast with His Bride, the Church…all Christians. We will then live eternally together, in unity and harmony as one Body, one Church, one Bride, with shared passion…for God, in a heavenly marriage to Him.
So, what are you doing to prepare yourself to be that heavenly Bride?
This preparation involves a deep work in the heart. This preparation is not about what we DO as much as WHO WE ARE. What is our character like? Are we loving, gentle and joyful people? Are we becoming holy? Are we passionately obeying the Word of God and spending time with Him now while we are on earth? Are we truly those “called out ones” who are separated from the things of the world? Or are we too busy loving the things of the world to have time to prepare our hearts? If we are becoming the prepared Bride in our hearts and attitudes, then our actions will line up with our character.
Before Charlie and I were married, he asked “the question”: “Will you marry me?” After I said I would, he asked my parents if he could have their permission to marry me. They said “yes.” Then the preparations began. We set the date for our wedding, five months away. My mother and I began working on the other details…a place for the wedding, who to invite, ordering invitations, asking those who would be attendants, purchasing the wedding dress and the bridesmaid’s dress, picking music, ordering flowers, finding a place for the reception, ordering the food…and all of the other details.
And then the day came; I was ready for the wedding. Everything was in place. Everything went according to our plan. It was a nice wedding. At the end of the ceremony, we were husband and wife.
Can you imagine my NOT being ready? Can you see me walking down the aisle with my hair messed up, in my jogging clothes? Or can you imagine that I would be somewhere else, going to a movie or a party, and be late for my wedding? No! My entire life for those five months was focused on being ready for the day of my wedding. And I can assure you, I was ready early!
However, several weeks later, I realized I didn’t know Charlie very well, and I was not sure I had done the right thing by marrying him. I had been ready for the wedding – the ceremony. But I was not prepared for the MARRIAGE. I had done all the outer preparations...the dress, the flowers, the things people could see. But my heart was not prepared.
Charlie and I met in October of our senior years in college. We got engaged in December – only two short months later. He graduated from college in early January and went to military training. Between the day he graduated and the day of our wedding, we only saw each other 5 times and the last time, I was walking down the aisle. After the wedding, I realized that I didn’t know him and I was not sure I liked him – at least enough to spend the rest of my life with him. He was nice as a person, ambitious and very responsible. But, I was not ready for the responsibility of being a wife, much less of later becoming a mother.
In our spiritual lives we like the idea of “going to heaven.” Many have this idea of being a cupid and sitting on a cloud for the rest of their lives. I don’t find that in the scriptures. But whatever your view of heaven, the question is are you ready for the marriage? Are you preparing? Are you getting to know Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, through reading His love letters written to you in the Bible? He will not marry a stranger. Are you spending time talking with Him? Most of us have no problems talking AT God, and giving Him the list of what we need or want. But, He wants us to sit and listen to Him, also.
One day as I was walking in our back pasture, I said, “Lord, what is on your heart today?” He answered with, “Thank you, my child!” I asked what He meant. He replied, “Most people want me to know what is on their heart, but rarely do my children stop and ask what is on my heart.” That made me very sad, as I realized that I was one who rarely had stopped to think of what God thought or what He wanted. I had been more concerned with myself than with Him, His Kingdom and His people. God is always thinking of us, what is best for us, and how He can pour out His love on us.
Our heart preparation involves becoming like Him and partnering with His Holy Spirit to be cleansed of our selfishness and self-focus.
Again, I ask…”What are you doing to prepare for the marriage? What kind of time are you investing in building your relationship with your loving Bridegroom? Do you have eyes for another (like the world?) Or are you focused on building your love and passion for the one who loves you with an everlasting love, even to the point of giving His life for you? Have you given your life to Him? Are you giving your life for Him?"
It is time for the Bride to prepare. It is time for us to be watchful. We don’t know when that day will come, but we are told to be ready. That readiness is a matter of our hearts belonging totally to Him. It is a matter of expectancy and anticipation. It is an matter of desire. It is a matter of working at the preparations so when the day comes, we will be ready.
Now is the day of preparation – not tomorrow. Now is the moment to decide what is important. Now is the time to change. Don’t delay. Prepare now.
Before Charlie and I were married, he asked “the question”: “Will you marry me?” After I said I would, he asked my parents if he could have their permission to marry me. They said “yes.” Then the preparations began. We set the date for our wedding, five months away. My mother and I began working on the other details…a place for the wedding, who to invite, ordering invitations, asking those who would be attendants, purchasing the wedding dress and the bridesmaid’s dress, picking music, ordering flowers, finding a place for the reception, ordering the food…and all of the other details.
And then the day came; I was ready for the wedding. Everything was in place. Everything went according to our plan. It was a nice wedding. At the end of the ceremony, we were husband and wife.
Can you imagine my NOT being ready? Can you see me walking down the aisle with my hair messed up, in my jogging clothes? Or can you imagine that I would be somewhere else, going to a movie or a party, and be late for my wedding? No! My entire life for those five months was focused on being ready for the day of my wedding. And I can assure you, I was ready early!
However, several weeks later, I realized I didn’t know Charlie very well, and I was not sure I had done the right thing by marrying him. I had been ready for the wedding – the ceremony. But I was not prepared for the MARRIAGE. I had done all the outer preparations...the dress, the flowers, the things people could see. But my heart was not prepared.
Charlie and I met in October of our senior years in college. We got engaged in December – only two short months later. He graduated from college in early January and went to military training. Between the day he graduated and the day of our wedding, we only saw each other 5 times and the last time, I was walking down the aisle. After the wedding, I realized that I didn’t know him and I was not sure I liked him – at least enough to spend the rest of my life with him. He was nice as a person, ambitious and very responsible. But, I was not ready for the responsibility of being a wife, much less of later becoming a mother.
In our spiritual lives we like the idea of “going to heaven.” Many have this idea of being a cupid and sitting on a cloud for the rest of their lives. I don’t find that in the scriptures. But whatever your view of heaven, the question is are you ready for the marriage? Are you preparing? Are you getting to know Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, through reading His love letters written to you in the Bible? He will not marry a stranger. Are you spending time talking with Him? Most of us have no problems talking AT God, and giving Him the list of what we need or want. But, He wants us to sit and listen to Him, also.
One day as I was walking in our back pasture, I said, “Lord, what is on your heart today?” He answered with, “Thank you, my child!” I asked what He meant. He replied, “Most people want me to know what is on their heart, but rarely do my children stop and ask what is on my heart.” That made me very sad, as I realized that I was one who rarely had stopped to think of what God thought or what He wanted. I had been more concerned with myself than with Him, His Kingdom and His people. God is always thinking of us, what is best for us, and how He can pour out His love on us.
Our heart preparation involves becoming like Him and partnering with His Holy Spirit to be cleansed of our selfishness and self-focus.
Again, I ask…”What are you doing to prepare for the marriage? What kind of time are you investing in building your relationship with your loving Bridegroom? Do you have eyes for another (like the world?) Or are you focused on building your love and passion for the one who loves you with an everlasting love, even to the point of giving His life for you? Have you given your life to Him? Are you giving your life for Him?"
It is time for the Bride to prepare. It is time for us to be watchful. We don’t know when that day will come, but we are told to be ready. That readiness is a matter of our hearts belonging totally to Him. It is a matter of expectancy and anticipation. It is an matter of desire. It is a matter of working at the preparations so when the day comes, we will be ready.
Now is the day of preparation – not tomorrow. Now is the moment to decide what is important. Now is the time to change. Don’t delay. Prepare now.
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