Christian Living

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I am not a lover of routine. If my days repeat themselves more than twice a week, I go a little nuts. I revel in variety and dance with spontaneity. No, routine is not my idea of fun.

Some people, however, thrive on it. They wake up at the same time every day, do the same activities in the same order, and they love it. My daughter is one of these. In fact, she probably wishes I were too.

At age two, Isabel (a.k.a. “Ellie") already has very specific ideas of what is necessary and right at different times. She cannot take a bath until all her toys are in their proper places. Her daddy and I need to be sitting in our designated spots before morning devotions can proceed. At bedtime, Ellie must have her pacifier, blankets and over-sized Pooh bear correctly positioned before any prayers are said or lights turned out. Yes, she is a person of routine. All of these elements signify that we are ready for something … bed, dinner, bath, devotions … something.

Her need for these readiness signs becomes clearer to me the older she gets. I first noticed it with dinner. We would all sit down for the evening meal. Isabel would then start the readiness drill. “Daddy, you ready pray?”

“Yes, I’m ready, Ellie.”

“Mama, ready pray?”

“Yup, I’m ready!”

“Zach, ready pray?” Zachary, being only months old, would rarely answer, but she never failed to ask him. She would wait patiently for Zach to give some signal that it was okay to begin. Then she would turn to my husband and Say: “Okay. One, two, free, GO!”

I may not be a person of routine, but I do love lists. To speak her language, I have created a number of “Ellie readiness lists.” I check off my lists, and she gets to keep her routine. This keeps us on the same page … most of the time.

Recently I heard her yelling from the living room: “Mama! I ready go!!” I came out to find her wearing a hat, socks and shoes, but no pants. Everything on her readiness checklist had been crossed off, but not everything on mine. Her routine was missing something. Her list was incomplete.

Whether we are persons of routine or prefer random variety, we all should have readiness checklists. Have we evaluated them lately? Are our lists accurate and complete? Okay, we know better than to go outside without our pants. We have our daily checklists memorized. But what about our spiritual checklists? Are we ready in the areas that God requires?

The Apostle Paul exhorts us to “be ready in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). That is pretty much all the time! But what do we need to be ready for? The entire verse says this: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” That is a lot! I am certainly intimidated by this list. I like the user-friendly phrasing found in 1 Peter 3. Verse 15 reads: “…sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you …” This is no lesser task than what we read in 2 Timothy – in fact, it is the same charge – but the reasoning is given clearly. Here we are assured that people will ask us to make a defense. The world will challenge our beliefs and our actions. We need to stand up and defend them and our God. We cannot do that if we are not ready and able. We need to be ready to teach and train others to know our Savior and Lord just as we do.

Now that we know the “what” and the “why” of our spiritual readiness list, how do we know we are ready? What are the signs? Check out Ephesians 6:10-18. I love how specific God is with us! First, He tells us that we are in a battle and must be prepared. Then He tells us exactly which pieces of armor we need. In this passage we are assured that we can stand firm when all of our pieces are in place. This is our readiness list! Let’s go through bit by bit.

In verse 14 we find the “belt of truth” and the “breastplate of righteousness.” Truth, just like a belt, holds everything together. We need that. This may refer to the Truth of Scripture or it could be the believer’s integrity. I refer the former interpretation. (My integrity in and of itself means nothing without the Truth of God. His Truth is what holds me together – not anything I do.) Righteousness, just like a
breastplate, protects our hearts and covers our souls.

Next we are told to put the “preparedness of the Gospel of peace” on our feet. The Ryrie Study Bible notes “The gospel gives our feet (and lives) support and stability.” This is true, but there is more here in verse 15. The NIV Bible translates it: “readiness of the Gospel of peace.” The Gospel makes us ready! By hiding the truth of God’s Word in our hearts and minds, we become ready. And this is put on our feet: the perfect base and foundation for all else.

In verse 16 we read about the “shield of faith.” A shield is for protection. Without faith we are nothing. Our beliefs are nothing. Our religion is hollow. Faith is the first defense; the first thing our friends and our enemies should see.

Finally, verse 17 tells of the “helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.” It
says clearly here that the sword of the Spirit, the only offensive weapon given us, is the word of God. We are to use the Bible to wage war with our enemies. We should definitely use Scripture in our defense and offense, but I find more here. It says “sword of the Spirit”. That sword belongs to the Spirit – the Holy Spirit. It is indeed God who fights our battles for us. We need only be ready and He will work in and through us to win for His glory.

Ultimately, our readiness is directly dependent upon our relationship with God. He is the one who gives us wisdom, strength … everything! We are nothing without Him, yet He still requires that we be alert and ready. The only way to do that is to seek Him; to know Him; to know His Word. We must be sure that our lists match His.

Have we studied His Word? Do we really know His truths? Are we depending on His Spirit for our strength to fight every battle? As we wake each morning, before we go out, we must check our list. Are we ready? Let us not rush or proclaim too loudly only to find that we have forgotten our pants.



All Scripture taken from: New American Standard Bible or the New International Version; Ryrie Study Bible © 1995 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago

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