Do you live by the motto “be prepared?” Are you continually looking ahead, thinking about what you can do today to be ready for tomorrow? Next week? Next Month? Next Year? Are you prepared for the schemes of Satan?
We prepare ourselves for school. We prepare ourselves for jobs. We prepare ourselves for many things in life. However, there are things that happen for which we are unprepared. When those occur, we are caught off guard and must figure out a way to get by with what we have.
We all want to be prepared, even if we don’t always take the necessary actions to be prepared. Those of us who take being prepared seriously, work to prepare for anything we can think of. Others, think logically through the percentages and prepare for the most likely possibilities. Still, there are others who simply do not prepare. Of course, there is no way any one of us can prepare for every possibility.
Yet, there is preparation we can do to keep from falling for Satan’s schemes. It really comes down to three basic actions we can take to prepare. First, read and study God’s Word. Reading His Word, even if we don’t understand it all, helps us become more familiar with God. Having read the Bible through several times, I can tell you no one understands it all the first time through. It takes repeated reading and studying to grow in knowledge and understanding.
Second, spending time in prayer. Talking with God, pouring out your worries, anxieties, joys, thankfulness (a big one), and turning it over to Him again and again is key. Through our communication with Him, we grow closer to Him, and we begin to hear Him when He speaks to us.
Third, believe and trust in Him. Why is this third? We do not fully believe in and trust someone we do not know. We learn to trust someone more as we grow closer to them. Yes, we can believe a little initially, but it grows deeper as we get to know God better and communicate with Him more.
I pray we all prepare for Satan’s schemes. I pray we get to know God better and communicate with Him more. I pray each one of us trusts God more, knowing the more we trust Him, the better we are prepared for Satan’s schemes. Read God’s Word. Study God’s Word. Spend time in prayer. Relieve yourself of worries. Believe in God. Trust God. Be prepared.
Luke 4:13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Marty Pressey 