Learn To Be Prepared
To be a disciple of Christ is to be a learner and follower. You won’t effectively follow if you are not learning. Our learning is important to God (Mt 11:28-30). We are commanded to diligently study so we can learn what the Lord says to us in His revelation, the Bible (2 Tim 2:15). We must want to learn (Prov 12:1, LB) and be eager to ever learn more (Prov 15:14, CEV). Otherwise, if we stop learning, we will forget what we used to know (Prov 19:27). Consequently, we go to people who can instruct us (Mal 2:7, CEV), eagerly listen to God as Christ did (Isa 50:4, CEV), and realize that our learning will result in spiritual and, probably, material provision (Prov 19:8, CW).
As Governor of New York, Teddy Roosevelt sought information on a wide variety of topics that would be important for a future president to understand – subjects like education and taxation. Hence, he was better prepared when he became president. Abraham Lincoln borrowed or bought every book he could and read them voraciously. They greatly prepared him to become president. Before John Adams asked the Dutch for a crucial loan to keep the American Revolution supplied, he studied their government, customs, and language. He was able to get the loan.
Are we willing to do the hard work we need to do to prepare for what the Lord has called us to do? Learning can be unglamorous. Would most people likely have thought that Lincoln looked cool sitting on a horse reading a book? Study can be tedious. Yet, the American cause in the Revolution may not have survived apart from the loan which Adams procured, in part, because of all his hard study.
May we be willing to plod along, to work hard, to study our area, to be ready to fulfill our destiny as best we can.
Comforting others is costly but worth it.