Prevent and Prepare

Todd got a ticket on the way home from taking Parker to camp last Sunday. It wasn’t for speeding or doing anything blatantly wrong- it was for expired license plate tags. I wrote a blog about this same thing happening to me (http://juliegphillips.blogspot.com/2008/03/journey-with-julie.html) in March. Obviously there are some preventative steps Todd and I can take to keep this from happening to us.

When we lived in San Antonio we had the blessing of purchasing our first NEW home. We went through the whole finishing the building, the inspection process, etc. I was 6 months pregnant with Parker. It was so much fun! We had lived there about one year when we were woken up one night to continuous beeping. It was not fun to wake up to this annoying sound. It was the smoke alarms. They were going off but not from smoke. The batteries were going out. If there had been a hidden camera- we could have won money! We were going through our house waiting by each of the smoke alarms trying to figure out which one was beeping! But they were taking turns…

“It is this one!”

“No, this one…”

“It is coming from over there”

“Quick, before Parker wakes up!”

Complete chaos! Needless to say, we didn’t figure it out. Todd ended up just taking the batteries out of all of them and we prayed there wasn’t a fire for the rest of the night. We didn’t have a plethora of nine-volt batteries in the house to replace them and would have to make a run to the store.

Now before all of you kindly people out in blog-o-sphere offer all of your ideas…we know and have learned that it is best to change the batteries with Daylight Savings time. See…preventative measures to keep the alarms from going off in the middle of the night.

God desires us to enact preventative measures in our life as well. The Bible is filled with verses to inspire, encourage, and challenge us to be Holy, pursue a life of righteousness and share the hope that lies within. However, many of us just remove the batteries and go back to sleep. We don’t get to the bottom of our sin, we don’t seek out the root of our issue and we keep going along half-heartedly following Jesus. Here are some verses that I hope will encourage you to dig deeper into your own walk- seeking to clean out the hidden closets of unrighteousness in your life- why? Because God commands us to “Be Holy”. Isn't that reason enough? And like Jude 3- we must all FIGHT for our faith- but for many of us the fight begins in the preventative and the preparation of our armor (Eph 6).

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep a clear head, and set your hope completely on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not be shaped by the desires that you once had in your ignorance. Instead, just as the one who called you is holy, be holy in every aspect of your life. For it is written, "You must be holy, because I am holy. 1 Peter 1:13-16

Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more...Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his,"and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2 Timothy 2 14-15,19, 21-26; 4:2, 5