Prepared

Ephesians 6 gives a wonderful image of how we are to “dress” or outfit ourselves. I get this picture of Paul getting dressed in the morning and making sure he was clothed in God’s best. His admonition to the Colossians on how they were to clothe and not clothe themselves is another example of his dressing image (Colossians 3).

I was thinking about that as I was running through my tick list of things to get ready before I headed out the door for my twelve hour work day. I would be working both jobs and not getting home in between. I had laid out my clothes, charged the phone and Palm Pilot, set out the vitamins, and readied the coffee maker, all before I went to bed. My lunch box was loaded with two meals and two snacks to get me through the day. That’s when I thought about a principle I’ve taught in my healthy eating classes: To fail to plan is to plan to fail. All those years in Girl Scouts taught me well to “be prepared.”

Driving to work, I began to ponder how “prepared” I was spiritually to walk through the day. I made sure I had a jacket with a hood to protect my hair from the wind and rain, but did I grab the helmet of salvation? I made sure my inserts were in my shoes, but were my feet protected by the peace that comes from the Good News? I knew my pants would stay up, but it wasn’t because I grabbed the belt of truth. I knew where my umbrella was, but “over all things” did I put on love?

My socks may have matched, but I think I would fare better through the day if I made sure my heart, mind, and spirit got better attention. And that won’t happen unless I plan, prepare, and follow through. I don’t know what storms, trials, or temptations may come my way today, but to fail to plan for them is to plan to fail. So, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make sure my sword of the Spirit is close at hand for when the enemy attacks!