Are You Ready?

I am sure that you are already aware of of this, but I will remind you of it anyway. Jesus spent thirty years getting ready to do three years of public ministry. Now, if you are like me your mind immediately went to the fact that Jesus is God and he didn’t need to prepare for anything; he already knew it all perfectly. So why did he spend that much time before starting his public ministry? I believe there are a few reasons. First, everything God does is purposefully done and done on the Father’s timeline. That is the easy answer. Two, I believe he waited as an example to show us how important it is for our private life to be in order before we do too much publicly. Jesus grew up as an obedient son, worked with his dad as a carpenter, gained the respect of his peers, learned along with everyone else in the synagogue. Growing up takes time. I think he wanted us to know that. We tend to be in a hurry to do, but not that interested in becoming.
The apostle John in the book of John 21:25 tells us that after those thirty years of preparation, it would be impossible to write down all the of the ministry Jesus did the next three years. This indicates to me that my preparation for ministry directly affects how effective I will be in my service for God. When I short circuit the preparation stage, I lessen my ability to serve well later. Remember, we are not saying Jesus didn’t do anything during those thirty years of life; we are simply saying what he was doing was personal, private, and done with his family and neighbors. Nothing was public yet. As Jesus told his mother, “My time has not yet come.”
How much time have you spent privately getting ready for God to use you publicly?

-Pastor Tim