Do you know how to be dressed in readiness? Then I want to hear from you. My word for the year 2015 is ‘readiness’ and I am trying to figure out what readiness means for me and how I could practice it more fully.

Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. (Luke 12:35, NASB,*)

We are all called to be ready for Jesus. But readiness for Jesus means more than ‘just’ being saved. And that’s what I will be exploring this year. What does it mean to be dressed in readiness?

First of all, I want to remind all of us that everything starts with God’s readiness.

God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness. (Titus 2:11-14, MSG,*)

Second of all, I want to remind us that our calling as Christians is to create readiness in others to receive God.

He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. (Matthew 13:11-13, MSG,*)

Okay, you say. Isn’t that already a lot of readiness? Yes, but there’s also this third kind of readiness that I feel called to practice. God has been preparing me for something new for awhile now. I don’t know exactly what it is but I’ve called to be ready and readily available whenever God calls me to step up to the plate. So…my questions are: How can I increase my readiness? How can I be truly dressed in readiness?

 

Gracious God,
Thank you for your readiness to give and forgive.
Thank you for calling us to create readiness for you.
Prepare our hearts and minds for you.
Dress us in readiness so your will
would happen in and through us.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: What do you think? What does it mean to be dressed in readiness? What are your best tips to create readiness for God?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you become readily available and alert to God!

* [As you might have noticed, I enjoy reading the Bible in different translations and love comparing them. I have started linking the Bible verses to Biblegateway.com so you can easily read (and compare) them in the different versions I’ve used while preparing each post.]

Image courtesy of Mari-Anna Stålnacke. Linking up today with Faith-filled Fridays, and Faith Barista.