There is an endless set of verses in the Old Testament and New on readiness. In the Old Testament, the verses revolve around being ready for battle, the scribe's pen being ready, and being ready to do the king's bidding.
In the New Testament, Jesus expands the usage to be readiness for God and the coming Kingdom. Paul bemoans people's lack of readiness for the "meat" of spiritual learning. Readiness for advancing the kingdom and its work is prevelant.
In the Twelve Steps, in addition, I find another powerful admonition: "Be entirely ready..." Be entirely ready to have God remove all defects of character. Am I ready to remove all the blocks which keep me not only from healing, but those which keep me from all the biblical directives to receive and transmit the Kingdom of God? Can I acknowledge and own them? Can I remove them?
To me, that means to prepare the environment of my soul to let the Holy Spirit have it to do her work. I can allow contentment to grow in such a way that there is room only for the Holy Spirit and her presence, as preparing for a guest. I can unclutter it of resentments, worry, projection, sinful anger, and wrong expectations of God and myself. It also means that no other earthly satisfaction will suffice.
How else can I be ready for subsequent faithful action if my soul is not prepared? I think about Mary, the mother of Jesus, when she said, "let it be to me according to your word." She was entirely ready.
I want to be, also.
No comments:
Post a Comment