February 22, 2021 - Get Busy! (Time To Roll Up Our Sleeves!)

In the last devotion there was a simple charge to “be ready” both "in season and out of season" (2 Timothy 4:12)… and I share that the word for season was not just about a series of events but could translate to any opportunity, thus meaning that we should be ready to take advantage of opportunities (being “in season”) AND to create opportunities (“out of season”).

There is a certain mentality that comes with being ready… it requires preparation, preparation leads to confidence, and confidence leads to jumping in and making things happen.

I love the story from the 1988 All-Star three-point shooting contest. Larry Bird won the event and never even took off his warm-up jacket; and it is rumored that before the start of the event he asked the other competitors, “so, who’s coming in second?”

I love that story, because I know that typically taking off the warm-ups is a sign that a player is ready to roll… it is the equivalent of a worker or a fighter rolling up his sleeves… (which is actually an old idiom from ancient Hebrews referring to getting ready to work.)

We have recently looked at Galatians 6, in the chapter it states that “each one should bear his own load.” (vs 5) This is simply a reminder that we should carry what weight we are able to carry… (earlier in the chapter we are reminded to help one another when that weight is too much.) We also have the mandate in 1 Corinthians 15 to be “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” (vs 58)

We are urged in Scripture to “take off the warm-ups” or to “roll up our sleeves” and get to work! So following up on the last devotion, being ready is part of the equation… that is the right attitude… now let’s put it into action and get busy!

On a side note: when God sees a need, He obviously goes into action… when He saw that man was fallen He immediately put into action the plan to redeem mankind through the sacrificial death and resurrection of His Son. In an early prophecy of that we see this beautiful picture of God:

Isaiah 52:9-10 Break forth into joy, sing together… For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

A modern way of stating the beginning of verse 10 is that the Lord has rolled up His sleeves and got to work!!!