If I remember correctly, “Always be Prepared” is the motto of the Cub Scouts of America. Or maybe it’s the Boy Scouts. Or maybe it’s both. Honestly, I don’t remember, I was only a part of a Cub Scout troop for about one Cub Scout meeting. I had a rather traumatic experience. At only 9 years old, I was invited by a school friend to attend a Den meeting. Which was fine, and fun, until I met the Den mother. I’m sure she was a beautiful lady, and possibly still is. But I remember that her eyes didn’t point the same direction and she smoked. I was unfamiliar with both – and quite frankly it was frightening. I have nothing against Marty Feldman – he’s my favorite actor in Young Dr. Frankenstien, but I was only nine years old and was a bit sheltered. Quite frankly, I wasn’t, well, prepared.
One of our mission goals at Crossroads is to “Become Equipped for Ministry.” I am so glad the Bible gives us a key strategy to make this happen. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” As we continually engage in our mission to “be equipped,” the Word of God must forever be our guide. What strikes me as fantastic about this verse is that the Bible is profitable to equip us for every good work! In other words, the Bible says that the Bible itself will help us to “always be prepared” for every good work.
Can you imagine that! The Bible equips us to help people cross the street, be house moms, be hard working grunts on the job, be honest, dedicated, lovable and loving, and every other good thing you can think of for us to do. That even includes the “religious” things like prayer, song, preaching, teaching, giving, and remembering our Savior in the Eucharist. All of these are good – and the Word equips us to do them all.
There are and will be those moments in life when we run into our cross-eyed smokers and feel like a nine year old boy in the face of the eerily unknown. I wasn’t ready then. Even now – I don’t think I’ll be attending any Den meetings. But the more we become aquainted with the Word, the Bible, the stories of faith and instructions God gives for living – the more prepared we will be not just to survive those traumatic events, but to do good works in the face of them.
Where to start? If you’re just getting acquainted with Scripture, I recommend starting in the New Testament with the gospel of Luke, Acts, the letter of James and 1 Peter. If that’s too much, focus on the Sermon the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and the book of James. Those are great places to start for simply learning how to live.
Have a great week.
