Be Prepared

This time, when we say be prepared, we are not referring to the boy scout’s motto, commendable though that is. Their motto refers to the body and perhaps slightly to mind readiness. This time, we are thinking of your whole being, body, mind, and spirit. Winston Churchill famously said he was ready to meet his Maker. Our version of preparedness is so that we can constantly make a similar declaration because we don’t know the end time. It could be today as I am writing or it could be a thousand years. But whether now or later, we must be prepared to meet our Maker and Savior.

However, there is another sense in which we must be prepared, even while we are still here on earth. And that is because merely living on earth is a battle. If you are a believer, which I assume we are, you have constant battles with Satan. And then there are those who have yielded their bodies for the devil’s dwelling. We popularly call them satan’s cohorts. They trouble you at work, in your family or neighborhood; in your marriage, and perhaps in your church. Those are the worst because they have not made themselves available solely for Godly use.

The Bible recognizes that there are battles everywhere is the reason it talks about the armor of God. We find that in Ephesians 6:11-18, which you should hopefully read sometime soon. There are other references to life being a constant battle, an example of which we find in 2 Corinthians 10.4-5. It says that our warfare is not carnal, signifying that every believer is engaged in warfare.

Our Warfare Is Not Carnal

But it cautions that our particular warfare, unlike the boy’s scouts’ need to be prepared, is not of the flesh. That is the basic meaning of carnal. Not that carnality is innately sinful but that you are walking by sight rather than by faith. I hope you know that without faith, you cannot please God and that is what makes carnality so dangerous. God is a Spirit and if you try to worship Him in the flesh, He is not impressed. We must be people who walk by faith, spiritual men and women, not carnal in any way.

Besides, our warfare is not against our mothers-in-law or our bosses. The bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers. We war against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. How are you going to be prepared to take on enemies you cannot see? With spiritual weapons, not physical ones.

That is why the Bible cautions us to choose for ourselves spiritual weapons. We find the list of such spiritual instruments in the Ephesians passage to which we earlier referred. You probably know the list, but unless you read the bible regularly, you might think there are only seven pieces. Personally, I see nine, but we hall come to that later. For the sake of those who are young in the faith, we list them again.

Be Prepared By Putting Jesus On

I list the first one as standing. Do you know that many believers are not standing? They have allowed Satan to beat them down and they walk around defeated. In order to stand, you need to immerse yourself in the word of God. That is where you find the faith to stand. The second piece is similar to that; hence Jesus prayed to God to sanctify His followers with the truth. He ended by saying your word is the truth.

That means you cannot be prepared for life’s battles without the word of God. And you probably know that the Bible is the written word about the Living Word of God. Therefore, the more of the truth you soak in, the more of Jesus you have. This is why we say that the armor of God is nothing but Jesus, but there is more along those lines. The third piece of the armor is the gospel of peace, which is the good news about the Prince of Peace. Again, we see Jesus.

The next piece is known as the shield of faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God is what the bible says. You cannot have faith without knowing Jesus. Otherwise, one can ask you, “faith in whom?” Next, we see how you have to protect your mind (head) by taking the helmet of salvation. If by now, you don’t know that the One who purchased your salvation is Jesus, please start studying your bible.

The Armor Of God Is Jesus

The weapons are now almost complete but to be prepared, you need a couple more. Surprise, surprise, we come again upon the word of God. Jesus used the word of God as a sword against Satan in the temptation. How do we expect to be better than Jesus, the Son of God? How can we be prepared without the word of God? No how, is the answer. Little wonder that the devil is able to make believers’ lives miserable. We are missing our sword.

My ninth piece of the armor with which you will be prepared to take on Satan and his cohorts is prayer. We see the Son of God praying always and how should we do less? Put Jesus on and He will personally teach you His ways. Not in one day mind you, but gradually as you remain submissive to Him. It is only then that you are prepared to have victory over the devil. It can, and will happen but only for those who put Jesus – aka armor of God – on.

Maranatha!