Saturday, July 31, 2010

Preparation For Tomorrow Starts... Yesterday

The other day I was out running and on my route there is a hill that is a bit steep. Most of the time when I see people riding their bicycles get to this hill they have to stop and walk their bikes to get to the top. While I was running the other day and starting on my way down the hill there was someone riding their bicycle the other direction approaching the hill. This person was not going very fast and as he started going up the hill he continued to peddle trying to make it all the way up without dismounting from his bicycle. As I saw this taking place I thought to myself that there is no way he will make it all the way up the hill because he waited until it was too late to really get the speed necessary to go up the hill.

As I watched this happening I got thinking about how this is just like what so many people do in life, they wait until it is too late to try and do something that they should have been doing all along. Most people wait until they have financial problems before they really try to get a handle on their finances. People don't go to see the dentist until their teeth start to hurt or they wait until they experience health problems before they begin an exercise program. These natural examples have a parallel in the spiritual realm because most Christians really don't get too serious about God and the Bible until they are in a crisis situation. By the time all of these things are taking place it is past the time to have started to do something about the situation.

My title for this blog of "Preparation For Tomorrow Starts... Yesterday" is not a mistake but an attempt to emphasize the point that we need to start right now to do the things that will help us be ready for our future. Some people have come to me with problems that they are facing and what I want to tell them is that the real answer is that they should have been doing something about this a long time ago and if they had they would not even be in their bad situation. As Christians, if we spend time with God though reading and studying the Bible and fellowship with God in prayer on a regular basis we will keep ourselves built up spiritually and then when problems come, as they always will, we will be ready to meet the challenge and come through victoriously!

Now I am certainly not trying to put guilt or condemnation on anyone with what I am saying. The good news is that even when we make mistakes and don't do what we could have or should have done in the past God will still help us, but think of the difficulties we could avoid if we would prepare ourselves as best we can beforehand. Start where you are today and get your spiritual life in order and begin to build yourself up in God's Word so you are ready to deal with any kind of difficulty. If we do all we can now to prepare ourselves then we will be in the position to stand strong and overcome in the storms of life and help others to do so too.

1 comment:

Michael Potter said...

A very simple yet also very profound and true observation on life..