Today, help me to prepare to follow Jesus

| Photo by Matt Duncan on Unsplash

Every journey starts with preparation before you even leave. In our journey of following Jesus, we need to be prepared every day for following Jesus. What are we going to need today?

Paul writes about what we must be ready and responsible for in our daily journey.

In Philippians 2: 14-16, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life then, on the day of Christ’s return; I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.”

Paul gives us some great advice to be prepared for our journey of following Jesus:

• Do everything without complaining and arguing. Think about how many times we complain daily about things in our lives. This is no way to take a journey. I have led many trips overseas, and some people want to go on the trip, but then they complain about everything, from the travel, being tired, food, the hotel, and the people, and it becomes very draining and impacts everyone else on the team. How many people are complainers, and when you see them, you want to avoid them? Then other people like to argue with people.

Paul is saying that as followers of Jesus, we need to stop complaining and arguing with others. It makes for a lousy trip. This is good advice for everyone in our daily journey.

• Live clean and innocent lives as followers of Jesus. We must realize that people are watching how we live in the world. Are we living like Jesus? We are the only Jesus people will see, and can they see Jesus in the way we live, talk, respond, and treat others?
• Shine like a bright light in a crooked and wicked world. Let Jesus shine in our lives today. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” Jesus’ followers need to shine the brightest when the world is dark.
• Hold firmly to the Word of God! If you are going on a trip, you need a guidebook to help you. God has given us His Word to direct, lead, and guide us on our journey of following Jesus.

Today, help me to prepare to follow Jesus! Lord, I pray You let me enjoy the journey because You are with me today!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pastor Ronald Squibb has been the International Christian Church (ICC) Lead Senior Pastor at State‎n Island, New York, since 2011. He draws many experiences from his over 40 years as a pastor and significant emotional life experiences.

His new book, Following the Journey with Jesus, which he co-authored with Daniel McNaughton, was recently published and is getting rave reviews. His daily devotional appears in this publication.