Ready

Ready to suffer grief or pain,
Ready to stand the test,
Ready to stay at home and send
Others if He sees best.

Ready to go, ready to stay,
Ready my place to fill,
Ready for service, lowly or great,
Ready to do His will.

Ready to go, ready to bear,
Ready to watch and pray,
Ready to stand aside and give,
Till He shall clear the way.

Ready to speak, ready to think,
Ready with heart and brain,
Ready to stand where He sees fit,
Ready to bear the strain.

Ready to speak, ready to warn,
Ready o’er souls to yearn,
Ready in life, ready in death,
Ready for His return.

I really enjoy these one word hymns.  They immediately evoke something in my mind when I see them.  Hymns like “Others” “After” “Satisfied” and “Ready” communicate so many things in one simple word when you see them.  I found this particular hymn in several old hymnals that I have.  I was, however, unfamiliar with this song.  Although you can find several references in Scripture to the word “ready,” I was drawn to a couple of parables found in Matthew 25 that reinforce this concept of readiness.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins – I am sure most of you will be familiar with this parable.  It is a story of five foolish virgins and five wise virgins.  A comparison of those prepared for the Bridegroom and those that were not.  Verse 10 of Chapter 25 really sums up the rewards for being ready, and the consequences for not being ready.  Verse 10 reads “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.”  The harsh reality of unpreparedness is found in verse 12 when the Bridgegroom says “But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not” to the ones who were not ready for the Bridegroom’s return.

The Parable of the Talents – In verses 14 through 31 of the same chapter, Jesus gives us the parable of the talents.  In my mind, this too is a message on readiness.  The master has given talents to his servants according to his pleasure.  His expectations are that they use their talents at the right time in the right way.  That they be ready to take the Master’s talents, use them, and multiply them for the Master.  It is understood that the servants who produced more talents were ready.  Whether they were given 5, 2, or 1, the Master’s expectation was for them to work while he was away, but to also be ready for His return.  This parable, too, has some harsh words for the unproductive and un-ready servant.   The consequences of not being ready are “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Both of these parables teach a concept that is reinforced by this song.  That concept is to be ready no matter the time, no matter the circumstances, no matter your giftings.  You are to be ready “in season and out of season” to be used by the Lord.  This song shows us 29 different times that we need to be “ready.”  God may chose to use us at any time and in any circumstance.  The question for us is will we be ready?

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• Ready to stay at home and send others if He sees best –  When I first saw this verse, I thought of those that go onto the missions field.  They are sent and we feel that we are called to be the senders.  But if I am honest with myself, I tend to desire to be the one that stays more often than I have a desire to go.  It is much easier for me to be ready “to stay” when the going requires sacrifice.  Sacrifice of the conveniences of America.  Sacrificing the benefits of living in a culture where we can worship freely.  Sacrificing oneself and often times ones family to go and reach a people that don’t immediately have a heart for God.  I admire the foreign missionary calling, but also realize God is calling each of us to go into our own mission field, no matter how great the sacrifice.

• Ready with heart and brain – I thought this was a unique combination.  Sometimes, I feel like Christianity is viewed by the world (and sometimes by folks inside the Church) that it has to be one or the other – heart or brain.  You either have to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, and check your brain at the door.  Or you have to be so deep into theology and doctrine, that you forget that Christianity is centered in practical love and forgiveness.  James 1:27 tells us “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”  Our faith can be, and should be, a balance between deep Biblical understanding that challenges the mind, and prompts the heart.  That requires us to dig deep into the Word, but that doesn’t allow us to neglect to love our neighbor and our enemies.  True Christian living requires both the heart and brain.

• Ready in life, ready in death –  I have many times heard an older person say “I’m ready to go.”  They typically have lived a long full life, or maybe they have suffered with an illness for some time and they are truly ready to go.  I can definitely understand being “ready to die.”  But I am not sure I know what it means to be ready in life.  Maybe the author is reminding us that we, as Christians, don’t go around haphazardly.  We don’t wander with no purpose or direction.  The Chrisitan life should be a life that exemplifies a readiness to live.  A readiness to experience the good and the bad that this life brings.  A readiness to laugh and rejoice, and a readiness to weep a mourn.  A readiness to have the kind of life Jesus promised when He said “I come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.”  That is the “ready in life” mindset I want to have.

If you are familiar at all with Cleveland Tennessee, you probably know that Cleveland is home to two Duracell Battery plants where they manufacture “C” and “D” and Lantern batteries.  I have an affinity for Duracell because of their operation in Cleveland, and because I used to work there when I was in college.  I have a certain amount of loyalty to that battery brand.

But as far as names go, Duracell is a little lacking for me.  I don’t know where the names “Duracell” and “Rayovac” came from, but if I had my druthers, I would buy a battery with a name like “Ever-Ready.”  Isn’t that what you want in a battery?   A confidence that when you need a flashlight, the batteries will work.  You want batteries that work when called into action.  A battery that is ever-ready.  Problem batteries can be corrosive.  Weak batteries don’t do the job.  Dead batteries are worthless.  This is why Duracell invented the battery tester.  Something that could determine whether or not the battery still contained the power necessary to do a job.

So, how are your spiritual “batteries?”  Have you been tested lately by trials in your life?  Are your batteries fully charged and ready to be used by the Lord?  This hymn reminds us that God is looking for people that are ready, ever-ready, to be used in His kingdom.  It may be on the mission field, and it may be in your neighborhood.  You may be called to do something great and public, or you may be called to do something behind the scenes where you never are recognized.  Batteries don’t get to decide how they are used.  Sometimes they are used to bring light into dark places.  Sometimes they sit on the shelf for awhile waiting to be used in an emergency.  And some batteries are called on everyday, and often times they get drained.

I hope that your testimony today can be that your batteries are charged, and that they are “ready” – “ever-ready.”  To serve Him in whatever role He sees fit.