“If you wish to gain victory over your thoughts, attend to your passions; whereupon you will easily banish your thoughts from your mind. To be precise –
When you are bothered by thoughts of fornication, you should fast, keep vigil, toil and avoid harmful associations.
In order to ward off anger and sorrow, do not let either glory, dishonor, or material things interest you.
In order to conquer resentment, pray with fervor for the one who grieved you; and you will assuredly be freed from it.”
St. Maximos the Confessor
There are some that speak about preparedness, they are:
Genesis 41:1-32 tells us that Pharaoh has dreams that Joseph interprets for him. He foretells that Egypt will see seven years of plenty, and seven years of famine.
Exodus 12:35, 36 speaks about God telling the Jews to ask the Egyptians for clothing, gold and silver. God chose to miraculously provide their food and water, but asked them to get these items.
Proverbs 6:6 –11 is about the ant and lazy grasshopper. It warns against laziness and idleness and tells us to be like the ant or “scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.”
Proverbs 27:12 “A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” A favorite verse on preparedness! It plainly tells us a wise person prepares for things they see as a potential danger.
1 Timothy 5:8 “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Take this verse seriously; it is our job to provide, come what may. In bounty or famine it is my job and there are something’s that, in order to provide, one would had to have prepared ahead of time.
Matthew 25:1-13 is the parable of the ten virgins who went to wait for the bridegroom. Five brought extra oil and the other five did not, having to leave to get more. This is not simply about physical or material preparedness, but also about being spiritually prepared.
And another thing…
Stop worrying about what will happen if Jesus returns before you die.
START to worry about what will happen if you die before Jesus comes back – which is far more likely.
That’s called spiritual prepping.
