P31W: Grab Your Weapons

Guys, I hope you all will forgive me for being so long in posting. For some odd reason, I've just kinda put it off. I don't know why. Maybe I've just lost a taste for it for a while. I think I'm getting bored with this series. But, I'm not going to be a quitter. I'm going to finish it through. :) So bear with me. We are almost done. Anyways, sorry about the lack of posts.

Verse 21 of Proverbs 31 says,

"When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet."

This is a verse on being prepared. For me, this hits home because I can be last minute and unprepared a lot and it causes, naturally, stress. I bring it on myself. I decide to put something off till last minute or decide not to look ahead and it causes serious problems, like fear, stress, worry or doubt.

Lets see what the Bible says about being prepared. Hebrews 11:7,

"By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."

Rabbit trail: I don't know about ya'll but I love love LOVE how the Bible gives us examples of people who we can learn from. I mean, literally, everything we should be is pictured for us.

Noah, was commended for being prepared. Lets think about it, if Noah had say, "Pfft, God I don't believe You" and didn't build the ark, I wouldn't be writing this blog post. Mankind would have ended. And the Bible says, "Hey, look here! Here is a man who obeyed, and by faith built an ark. He was prepared!" And it points to the Proverbs 31 Woman as a woman to model because of her preparation.

Some definitions online for prepared are "to make ready beforehand" or "to put together". But, my person favorite is this, "to fit out; equip". I think that just sums what our Christian walk should be. We are in a war zone. The Bible calls us soldiers and instructs us to put on heavenly armor. Christians are constantly called to grow, equip and strengthen themselves for the hardships of Christian life. Why?! Why are we asked to do this? Lets look at Ephesians 6:11-12

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Picture this: There is an army of soldiers. They are on the battle field and the enemy is nowhere in  sight. So, they relax, unfold a lawn chair and maybe even bring out the quick tanning lotion. When they are all relaxing, the enemies crest the hill and they are all caught unaware. Wow. That would be totally lame and they would probably be obliterated before they could roll their sleeves down. What good are soldiers if they are not trained and prepared for war? What good is a gun if you have no gun powder or bullets? What good is a strong man if he hasn't been trained for battle.

Prepare. 

Jesus said in John,

"Remember the word that I said to you... If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you... because they do not know Him who sent Me."

We are promised hardship and battle in life. It would be foolish to go without our swords. I love the P31W. She is such a woman of courage. I'm kinda picturing her with a capital "S" on her shirt and a flowing cape or something. But, obviously, they didn't have Marvel comics back then...so thats not likely. Seriously though, why would she have to be afraid. It tells us that she wasn't afraid because she had faith that the scarlet clothing would keep her family warm. She looked ahead, knew it would get cold, and clothed her family with the best.

How are you letting yourself be overcome because you aren't ready? Has the enemy attacked you in little ways - maybe that you didn't feel were a problem at first, but then proved to be huge monsters? Have you allowed a little room for compromise? Have you not battled your sin when it was still under control? These are good things to think about. And we can flip the questions too. For example: How can I not be overcome? What ways can I cut all compromise out of my life?

Good news. These questions have answers. And, they are in the Bible. Like I mentioned earlier. The Bible has every answer for us. Just search it. Study it. Like you do school. You prepare yourself for that final exam, so prepare for the battle against our flesh, rulers, powers and spiritual forces. It's a life and death battle. We would scorn an army that wasn't prepared for battle, but we would be in no place to judge them if we were not ready ourselves. OUR battle is for our souls - the eternal stuff.

I think the Pledge of Allegiance to the Bible sums it pretty well. The Bible is our sword, our spiritual weapon. It's living, active, sharp and keep the enemy and sin away. It reads:

"I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God's Holy Word, I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God."

Making the Words of the Savior, Protector, Omnipotent Lord and King of Kings the lamp that guides are way, is the ultimate and only way to fearlessly prepare for the future.