Subtitle: Ask Him to make you ready for whatever He sends your way or calls you to. Ask Him to burden your heart to pray.
Excerpt: The verse from Acts 21:13 is used to question our readiness to suffer for Jesus, contrasting our everyday preparations with spiritual preparedness. The author reflects on the challenge of being ready to leave comfort and security for the sake of the gospel, acknowledging that contentment can become a barrier to God’s call.
Scripture
Our verse for today comes from Acts 21:13, “Then Paul answered, ‘What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.'”
Background
What are you ready for? We spend a lot of time getting ready for things. We clean the house and cook the meal, getting ready for company to come over. We pack our bags and make our reservations so we will be ready to go on our vacation. And we’ll run our reports and do our research to make sure we’re ready for the big meeting at work. But our Sundays of worship and Wednesday nights of fellowship and discipleship and times during the week of personal devotion, what are they getting us ready for? More specifically, how close might you be to saying, as Paul said, that you are ready to be bound or die for the name of the Lord Jesus? How does one, sitting comfortably in his chair in America, say with all his heart that he is ready to suffer to the fullest for Jesus? I do not know the answer to this. I may think in my heart that I love Him enough to endure anything that might come my way. And I can read all the promises and be encouraged by all those of great faith in the Scriptures. But when one of my children asks me why we aren’t missionaries, my tongue trips over itself, and I hear myself say that God has not told us to go “over there” yet. But I think what I meant was that I’m not ready to endanger my family for the gospel. I’m not ready to die before my kids get married. I’m not ready to leave my wife to go on by herself. I hear that question in my head all day long. “Why aren’t we missionaries?”
Application
Contentment is a sweet gift from God. But contentment apart from God’s call on your life is a false god, a drug that deadens you to the voice of One calling out to the lost. God’s plan is different for each of His children. But His purpose for His followers is the same. We all should be ready. Unless you go somewhere, it seems difficult to know what you’re ready for. If Jesus is your Lord, then you are equipped and able. Let’s pray for each other, that our Lord will make us ready.
Charge
As we seek Him today, ask Him to make you ready for whatever He sends your way or calls you to. Ask Him to burden your heart to pray.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
Distributed by – BCWorldview.org