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“Being ready is a good thing until it distracts us from being present.”

A thought by Maria Goff (2017-03-07) from her book, Love Lives Here: Finding What You Need in a World Telling You What You Want (Kindle Location 1802). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

For so many, getting ready is the most important thing about any situation and being ready is a good thing.

Maria says, “I’d hate to miss even a minute of a party Jesus threw because I wasn’t ready. I think we all would. Here’s the thing. He’s not just talking about a party that happens in heaven; He’s throwing the party right now and He wants all of us to come. Sure, there will be more celebrations to come in heaven, but the party is already happening. Right now, right here. I’ve wondered if some of us are so busy getting ready for the one in heaven that we’re missing the one that’s going on right now. Being ready is a good thing until it distracts us from being present. When eternity’s starting gun sounds, I don’t want to find I was so busy obsessing over getting ready that I forgot to show up at the race.”

If you have ever been to a race or in it you know there are three commands at the starting line.  They are, get ready, get set, go!  A race cannot be run if all you do is get ready. 

She goes on, “There’s a big difference between getting ready and being willing. There’s a lot more people who are ready than are willing. More often than I’d like to admit, I’m one of them. I think I know why. Getting ready is safe. Getting ready is something we can control. It gives us an excuse. It’s been providing us cover for years. It’s like we settle for just being at the race, as long as it looks to everyone else like we’re in the race. At some point, I decided to stop spending all of my time just getting ready and work on the ‘get set’ and ‘go’ parts.”

She then says, “Getting ‘set’ for me is making sure I’ve got firm footing.  For a runner, it’s planting their feet solidly in the blocks. For me it’s planting myself firmly with Jesus. God wants us to know what He has to say. We won’t know what He has to say about what He wants if we don’t read what He said. The Bible is His voice on paper. Unfortunately, some of us get stuck at the ‘get set’ stage— always studying the Bible but never getting out of the blocks and doing what it says. Don’t settle for having an opinion when you can be an example.”

Yes, yes!  So, will you get ready, get set and then go?  Will you?
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