"Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them" (Ezekiel 38:7) "Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. "Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them" (Matt 25:1-3) Miguel De Cervantes is credited with the saying "a good preparation is half the battle". This saying does not just show the importance of preparation, it underscores its inevitability. There is always the lure to get into things. In fact, most teachings and motivational pep talk will tell you how you need to get down there and start doing something. if care is not taken, it is easy to misunderstand as an endorsement for unpreparedness. Doing something doesn't mean you should not prepare. As a matter of fact, never do anything until you have prepared for it. Don't sing, buy, sell, preach, eat, give, take... don't do nothing unless you are prepared for it. According to Benjamin Franklin, if you fail to prepare, you have prepared to fail. Wisdom says if you have ten hours to cut down a tree, spend seven hours sharpening your knife! .
I learnt the importance of preparation by following the footsteps of Jesus. Jesus took thirty years to prepare for a three-year ministry. Before Jesus sent out the twelve, He prepared them. Never be too busy to prepare! Everyday, I come across books, songs, sermons, etc that could have been better if the author, singer or preacher took a little longer to prepare. It is the same reason students fail exams: preparation. Life is designed to teach us the imporatance of preparation, but we sometimes choose to ignore these lessons. The first time I read the story of creation in Genesis, it sounded as if God just got up and began creating things arbitrarily. But the truth is that God actually planned everything in advanced. That is why He knew what to create which day. He didn't stop creating each day because it was night or He needed to retire, No. He was merely sticking to His plan. Hebrew 11:3 says "by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God..."I have to ask you what is your plan for the year 2018? Do you know what you will be achieving by January, February, March, upto December? Or are you just going to launch into the year hoping that the best just happens? Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation; that's what Robert Schuller said!
To be continued...