Be Prepared

This Sunday's Gospel reading was from Luke 12:32-40, 

‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. 

‘But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’

Back in the day, when the Boy Scouts of America was a respectable organization, "Be Prepared" was the Scout Motto. Robert Baden-Powell must have known his Bible because in the creation of the Scout Motto he borrowed a page from Luke who recorded Jesus' words for us about the necessity of being prepared.

"The Scout Motto is: BE PREPARED which means you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your DUTY. 

Be Prepared in Mind by having disciplined yourself to be obedient to every order, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation that might occur, so that you know the right thing to do at the right moment, and are willing to do it. 

Be Prepared in Body by making yourself strong and active and able to do the right thing at the right moment, and do it."(Scouting for Boys, Camp Fire Yarn Number 3 p 23/221)

 Being prepared as a Christian means loving God with all your heart, mind, and soul, accepting Jesus as Lord, following and obeying him in thought word and deed. Our handbook is the Bible. In order to be prepared, we had better study it.