PREPARATION IS EVERYTHING

We (with help) just remodeled another house. Again, I was reminded of what every remodeler, handyman, and craftsman knows. Preparation is everything. When putting new materials on an old construction or surface, preparation is everything—and, often, takes the bulk of the time. Against my inclinations, nature, and preferences, I have learned to read the directions, or, okay, at least scan them. There is normally a segment of the instructions headed with the word “Preparation:” What follows is, not only what you don’t want to read or hear, it is what you’d rather not do—it’s all so time consuming. You would rather just get started with the new stuff—paint the wall, lay the floor, join the pipes. However, you can’t get on with the new until you take care of the old. Whatever else the preparation instructions contain, I was struck with how often on even widely different products they contain the following or similar words: “…must be clean and free of foreign matter…” There is other stuff the instructions say. But, mostly, “clean and free of foreign matter. Read the “Preparation” segment of the labels of paint, tape, glue for an example: There it is: “Surface must be clean and free from foreign matter.” If these preparation instructions are not followed, the project will not turn out as expected, will not look very good, and often will be totally botched. The thing is, it does not matter how good the new material is, if preparation has not been made, it isn’t going to turn out right. Not at all. It goes back to “Surface must be clean and free from foreign matter.” In Scripture there is this principle, seen especially in Chronicles, of one preparing his heart to seek the Lord. In Church history, a group which enjoyed God’s active moving and presence was a group of people who made preparation for their times of worship. They were a people who “prepared for the Sabbath.” They would spend time at home praying before services and/or would come early before service to pray and to seek God. What a difference this makes in worship. The singing, praising, praying, preaching, listening, is all so much better. Preparation is everything. Whether one has an assigned role or not, preparation for Church worship will make all the difference. And, I am not just talking about the need for musicians, singers, drama performers, tech operators to practice. I am talking about preparation that is needed before new materials can be put in place—making sure the surface is clean and free from foreign matter. What would worship be in a service, what would the singing sound like, what would moments of spontaneous praise be like, how would the Word sound, if each had made careful preparation before that worship to make sure the surface of his heart was clean and free of foreign matter? Whether a paint is a poor grade or the very best quality, if the surface is not clean and free of foreign matter, the results are not going to be good. It matters not if the singing is amateurish with missed notes or professional enough to make it on Youtube. It matters not if the preaching is poor or soars. Whether or not the refreshing, wonderful, needed new of God’s work takes hold of my heart or not, depends on preparation. Did I enter into worship prepared, “clean and free from foreign matter.” Preparation is everything. After all, you can’t get on with the new until you have taken care of the old.

PREPARATION IS EVERYTHING

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