Yesterday morning I mentioned that Muriel and I had been going through some of our old family pictures, in the form of colour slides (the more mature amongst us remember this form of photography, which kept us entertained before the world of computerisation burst upon us…) Between the years of 1968 and 1989 (approx) we seem to have amassed a total of something like 2000 of these slides, and it was time to sort them out. This led to getting the old projector out and reminding ourselves of lots of parts of our history, the wonderful adventures we shared, the great team we made, the excitement of family occasions etc. (Of course, there were also a few disagreements on the who, the what and the when of some of the memories, but that’s another story).
Getting ready to move house always includes some sorting out of old stuff, some revisiting of the past, as part of the preparation for moving on. And of course, there’s a lot more sorting out, packing up and chucking out to do than just looking at old pictures. Our daughter Julie is also on the move, and her husband has just spent several hours giving their bathroom a ‘deep clean’, as part of the process. He remarked that it’s only when faced with an imminent move that you realise how many little jobs you had been putting off till tomorrow, or next month, or next year. Funny how much work there is in getting ready for a significant occasion. If only we’d tackled some of those jobs along the way; if only we’d been a bit more ruthless with ourselves, a bit more determined to stay up to date.
3 things for which we need to be prepared:
Testimony
In 1 Peter 3:15 we read ‘always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have’. So, what is the reason for the hope you have? What exactly is that hope anyway? And how will you go about answering your friend’s enquiry when it comes?
Trouble
Jesus said ‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world’. (Jn 16:33). We all go through all kinds of difficulties in life; stay close to the One who provides the strength, direction and perseverance you need.
Testing
Paul writes ‘I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus’ (Phil 3:14). There is a prize to be won, and that takes effort and preparation. What that prize will be we don’t yet know, but it depends on what account we can give to God of our life – Rom 14:12. (This has nothing to do with our righteousness, which is guaranteed by the blood of Christ, making us eternally secure. Rather, it refers to what we have done with our lives as Christians).
It’s not easy to be prepared unless you’ve made an effort to get prepared! So let’s press on!
