Are You Ready?

  

 I’m talking to the faithful. Are you ready?

I’m not talking about the return of Jesus, though we should live each day as if he were coming in the middle of the night or the morning.

I am talking about being ready to disciple new believers or old ones who come home.  Why would they be coming?

God promised to pour out his Spirit in the last days. Ever since Jesus rose from the dead and the Spirit was manifest in the apostles, the last days have been underway. The end of the age is near. How near? I can’t say, but we are closer than we were and we should be ready to disciple new believers into obeying God, fulfilling every command in love, not  simply compliance, fellowship among believers, and even evangelism.

How do I get ready?

Pray. Make plenty of time for listening.

Read his holy word. We are blessed that God has placed us in a time where we know so much of the story.

Study his word. Memorize scriptures that you might need when you can’t get to your Bible. Dig in. Know and experience the full biblical witness. Do not become anchored in only a few verses to the exclusion of others.

Put his words into practice. Do what we are told to do.

Do all of this in a spirit of love.

Repeat.

There is a basic decision model used in warfare. It is the OODA Loop. Its an acronym that stands for:

Observation.

Orientation.

Decision.

Action.

Once you have finished the process, you start again.  What happened (observation)?

How do I relate to and navigate this new situation (orientation).

I will do this.  Whatever this is should be some form of putting his words into practice (decision).

Then we do it (action).

Then back to Orientation and another trip through the loop.

There is a parallel in our discipleship. We take note of our situation. We seek God through his word. We put his words into practice and then do it all again.  We grow in God’s grace.

Yes, there is more to be done in the fullness of our salvation—our discipleship—but these will prepare you to receive and help others who have professed Jesus is Lord.

We are still a work in progress, but we can help others as God completes his masterpiece in each of us. In God’s time, we are already perfected, but in our lives, we still are being shaped and reshaped to perfection by the Potter.

Remember, when people come, we are not their seniors or supervisors.  They do not follow us, though we should set a good example.

We walk with them as we follow Jesus and bring glory to God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ.

As siblings in our Savior and Redeemer, we should help those who come to know the ways of the Lord.

We must not become Pharisees who enjoyed their positions and expected people to do what they said because they typically did know more than most of the people.  But they did not know the love that was to accompany God’s directives.

Love must guide us.

Are you ready? Probably not completely, but if we do our part God will take care of more than you can imagine.

We must continue to grow in his grace and be ready to receive those who respond to his Spirit in the days ahead.

Amen.