WORK HARD SO YOU CAN…RECEIVE HIS APPROVAL.’ 2 TIMOTHY 2:15 NLT

Moses spent 80 years preparing for a job that would last 40. That’s a two-to-one ratio of preparation to execution. The greater the goal, the greater the preparation! Much of your life can be spent getting ready for what seems like a brief season and assignment. But to be able to say at the end, ‘I have finished my course’ is to have lived successfully, and that’s the same whether you are called to run a marathon or a 100-yard sprint. Before passing the torch to Timothy, Paul says, ‘Work hard so you can…receive his approval.’ Who does God use? People who prepare well. Whether you’re called to business, education, politics, art, medicine or ministry, this principle remains; God uses prepared people. The price tag required for long-term success cannot be lowered. We all want what successful people have; we’re just not all willing to pay the price they paid to achieve it. You must be prepared when your opportunities come. Abraham Lincoln said, ‘I will prepare and some day my chance will come.’ Benjamin Disraeli said, ‘The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his time when it comes.’ When the fate of the Jews hung in the balance, Mordecai told Esther that her experience in the king’s palace had prepared her, ‘For such a time as this’ (Esther 4:14). She responded and the Jews were saved. All these people had talent, prepared themselves and made the most of their opportunities when they arose. So your greatest challenge is not lack of opportunity, but being ready when it comes.