The Messenger

Whether or not you were a scout I think everyone has heard the motto of the Boys Scouts of America – Be Prepared. The same motto applies to Christians. The difference being the focus of scouting is only on this life, whereas the Christian focus is from this life to eternity.

The following is an excerpt from page 54, Boy Scout Handbook, 11th edition, as shown on the usscouts.org web site:

Be Prepared.

That's the motto of the Boy Scouts.

"Be prepared for what?" someone once asked Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting,

"Why, for any old thing." said Baden-Powell.

Interestingly, the original handbook “Scouting for Boys” came close to the bible in its attempt to describe preparedness from a religious point of view. However, so as not to favour any one religion scouting simply stated, “To believe in God” and “To do good to other people”.

On the other hand, the bible and Jesus are very specific in how Christians should prepare themselves.

1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV) For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV) ³⁷ And (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

If I may offer one piece of advice it would be, “Prepare today for tomorrow may be too late.”

By the time you become 50ish you begin to realize how short life is. As a teen I recall chuckling to myself when my mom and dad would say, “the older you get; the faster life seems to go by.” I had no idea of the truth in those words. The bible compares our life on earth to “… a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

We need to look beyond this life and prepare for eternity. Not surprising, the place to look for wisdom about eternity is in God’s Word; the bible. As an example, did you know that Daniel had a vision 550 years before the birth of Christ that saw Jesus “… coming with the clouds of heaven… He was given, authority, glory and sovereign power…” This is a vision yet to be fulfilled but God was preparing Daniel, and through the bible, preparing us.

The bible offers so much insight into how to prepare for our life in eternity.

If you haven’t given it any thought, do you need to panic? Not at all; God is in control. Do you have time to prepare? As of right now you do. Today is the best time to start for no one knows what tomorrow will bring. Can you procrastinate? I don’t recommend it for Jesus said, “… you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Can you escape judgement? No, I’m sorry but that’s not an option. Scripture is very clear that, “… we will all stand before the judgment seat of God…” I think a comedian once said you only have two sections to choose from, smoking or non-smoking. For now you have the option to choose where to spend eternity, but when you meet God face to face, He will choose for you – based on your faith, not your deeds.

My prayer is that you invite Jesus into your heart today. Be Prepared - S.D.G.