If Preparation Didn't Matter...

By Jon Nicol

Preparation is accumulative. And every piece of it matters.

If preparation didn't matter, then Joseph could have just skipped the pit, skipped the slavery, jumped past the jail and still succeeded in becoming  second-in-command of Egypt.

If preparation didn't matter, Moses wouldn't have needed to tend sheep for 40 years in the desert before tending "sheep" in the desert for 40 more years.

If preparation didn't matter, Joshua wouldn't have needed to hang out at Moses' right hand for those second 40 years.

If preparation didn't matter, David would've been crowned king the moment he was anointed by Samuel. Instead of killing a giant. Spending time in the palace. Building a friendship with Jonathan. Being hunted by a madman. Leading a band of mighty men. And not taking the throne by force when it was squatting right in front of him.

If preparation didn't matter, Jesus wouldn't have spent 40 days fasting in the desert before beginning his public, earthly ministry.

And if preparation really didn't matter, he wouldn't have taken the time to pray - lament, really - in a garden the night before that ministry's violent end.

Could it be that Gethsemane was the last piece of the final preparations that began a week early when Jesus told two of his disciples to, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there…" 

Then he told two more disciples to prepare the Passover meal for them. One last Passover meal that reenacted the preparations made by the people of Israel to leave slavery. Preparing them to be a people of covenant. And now, preparations were being finalized for another, greater covenant.

Preparation is weaved throughout God's story: 

I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord…

But when the fullness of time had come...

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared...

I am going there to prepare a place for you…

I saw the Holy City….coming down out of heaven and from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed...

And we are to be a people of preparation: 

Always be prepared to give an answer…

Be prepared in season and out of season...

Prepare your minds for action...

It's easy to short-change preparation. Especially in the day-to-day.

But the mundane and the daily are sacred pieces in God's best plan. To miss those is to miss the glory.

Preparation is accumulative. And every piece of it matters.

Question: What does this short piece on "preparation" motivate you to do?

Post image: Stock.xchng

September 5, 2012