I often respond "Hey, I'm a Girl Scout!" when I get "accused" of being overly prepared for outings. I always make sure we have snacks and drinks and so forth. After all, the The Girl Scout motto is "Be prepared."
"In the 1947 Girl Scout Handbook, the motto was explained this way: 'A Girl Scout is ready to help out wherever she is needed. Willingness to serve is not enough; you must know how to do the job well, even in an emergency.' The same holds true today."
Well, I suppose I have compressed the motto over the years, since my idea of being prepared means always having snacks; clearly the motto encompasses so much more.
Although Jesus was definitely not a Girl Scout, he described preparedness this way, when talking to his disciples:
“Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Luke 12:39-48
We tend to protect what we value. In Luke's example, Jesus refers to a thief breaking into a house and how irresponsible it would be for the homeowner not to be ready if he had been forewarned.
But Jesus isn't really talking about a thief and a house.
The bigger point he is trying to make is that we have been warned. Jesus came to save us and he told us what we need to do. We need to love each other as he loves us. We need to reject evil and avoid sin. We need to allow ourselves to be transformed and saved by the grace of God through baptism.
Unlike the homeowner having foreknowledge of the thief, we do not know when the exact hour will come for us to be called home to the Father.
Because of that, we need to stand ready, prepared for that day. If you value and hope for eternal life, do not procrastinate.
What do you need to do today, to ready yourself for God?
Janet Cassidy
Email me at: jmctm2@gmail.com
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