One of my first memories is my mother saying, "Rayburn, we must get things ready for school tomorrow. You must be prepared to learn many new things." Then when I was a little older, my dad told me to run as fast as I could, every day, around the country mile of dirt roads around where we lived. He said it was important to prepare my body to endure future hardships. When I was about eleven, I joined the Boy Scouts and my Scout Master told us boys that the Boy Scout moto is "Be Prepared", and he began teaching us how to survive out in the open by building a shelter, finding water and food, and fire building. Nearly all my teachers and Pastors, back in the 1930s and 40s, by teaching us the various subjects, were preparing us for a useful and successful future. Most were also concerned with helping us prepare for our spiritual destiny and the preachers, with special emphasis, sought to prepare us to meet God. And then there was the Marine Corps DIs and Master Sergent veterans of WWII who wouldn't give an inch in preparing us to survive the next war and seeing that the enemies of our country did not.
It is my opinion that the 1950-51 young Marines were the best prepared to fight a new war of any similar military force in history. The reason? We were trained and prepared for it just after WWII by the DIs and NCOs who had just fought the many Island battles of the South Pacific... Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Okinawa, Tarawa, Saipan, Peleliu, and a dozen more. We were prepared for the ultimate Battle of Chosin against the Chinese Communist veterans, in the mountains of North Korea, at the Chosin Reservoir in 20 to 40 degrees below zero. And though we had to withdraw because of the folding up of other UN units on our flanks, we killed or wounded 34,000 of the enemy, ten times more casualties than we suffered in that one two-week battle. We were PREPARED!
That was exactly 72 years ago this month. Now there is another, much more serious, crisis just unfolding upon us. But this time it is a world-wide calamity and will affect every area of life in every nation. I don't have to tell you about it because it is in all the news and being commented on daily. If you are not prepared, you may still have time to if you don't delay. So, store up some long-life food, and do it now. A wise man once said, " It is better to store up and prepare for what does not happen than to neglect to prepare for what does happen."
"And (Jesus) said also unto his disciples, there was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
I have been preparing since I left the Marine Corps in 1952 but such a crisis never happened ... util now. Two of the main ways I prepared was becoming frugal and saving resources. Frugality ... and becoming a saver are not an end within themselves. And they are not just good elements of character. They, like insurance, are elements of preparation for unexpected ... but certain storms of hard times to come... very difficult times of greater need. It may just be old age, or serious medical need. But it may be war, plague, starvation, world financial failure, or fire or flood, but the time of great need will arrive. And don't miss the fact that frugality and savings and timely, correct investment is simply Scriptural Stewardship. Pray for our nation and God's people around the world.
