Prepare

For Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Proverbs 24:27

Prepare your work outside;
get everything ready for yourself in the field,
and after that build your house.

Before building your house, see to it that you are providing the income necessary to afford and maintain it. Before marrying and creating a household, get everything ready to support a family. Do not let your dreams and ambition carry your emotions and move you to setting up a home to support when you have yet to make preparation for that support. Take the time to get the education needed, to develop the necessary skills, to put your finances in order and earn an income, etc.

Are you eager to serve the Lord in his kingdom? Then take the necessary time to prepare yourself well. Eager to be serving, many of the Lord's servants fall by the wayside or never serve to their potential because they were quick to build the house before getting ready in the field. Marriages and families have suffered because the man and woman were too eager to get married before good preparation - be it education, financially, or preparing themselves to sustain an intimate, complex relationship. They quickly fall into debt; the husband is unable to get the job necessary to provide for the "house" they have built; both are unequipped to handle the pressures that come with marriage and raising a family.

Prepare. Prepare each morning the day before you. Prepare your heart before the Lord before you go out into the field or take care of your home. After that, begin building.