Prepare!

The vital principle of deferred satisfaction is brought out in the text that is before us today. We see it clearly in the animal kingdom: the ant doesn’t spend all its time eating. It runs back and forth carrying food into the nest so that it may survive the winter when there will be no food.

Keep this picture of the ant continually in your mind. It is one of those images put into the Word of God to bring instruction to the heart. If you are young, prepare for the future in every way you can, not only by denying yourself to the things that God puts out of bounds, but also by giving yourself to the things you need to know about your chosen profession. Whatever you plan to do in life—prepare for it. Prepare by study and also by prayer.

Whatever your age—whenever you have to do anything in public, like speaking at a church meeting—prepare. Deny yourself pleasures, like watching television, and give yourself to the task at hand. There are not shortcuts to success. I prepared myself for years by filling my heart and mind with the Word of God, and then, when the time came, God called me to launch these Bible notes that you are now reading. People say to me, “How can you continue to write year after year?” I know I would not be able to do so had I not, many years ago, denied myself many things so that I could prepare. Whatever God asks you to do, don’t take His blessings for granted—prepare.

Further Study

Mt 16:21-28; Mk 8:34; Lk 9:23

What did Jesus say to His disciples?

Are there areas of your life in which you need to deny yourself?