URC Daily Devotion Monday 7 April 2025

St Luke 22: 7 – 13

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’ They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for it?’  ‘Listen,’ he said to them, ‘when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters  and say to the owner of the house, “The teacher asks you, ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’” He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.’  So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

Reflection

Today’s passage from Luke is all about preparation. The two disciples, Peter and John, were asked to prepare a room for the Passover meal, and Jesus was preparing to tell all the disciples (or, again, to prepare them) for his death and sacrifice. Clearly, it was important to Jesus to get the arrangements successfully in place. Preparation is paramount to success.

Many famous people over the centuries have stressed the importance of preparation:

“Success depends on previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure” – Confucius

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success” – Alexander Graham Bell

“The best preparation for tomorrow is to do today’s work superbly well” – William Osler

What can we learn from this passage that is relevant for our lives and our church today?

Firstly, we must trust in Jesus. Just think – If you were asked to find a man carrying a jar of water, as you entered Jerusalem, what would you think? What doubts would you have?  There must have been many people carrying water in those days? But it happened, just as Jesus suggested!  We have to be confident, despite our doubts, that what Jesus says to us in our prayers will come about. He knows what we need better than we do.

Secondly, if our ventures into discipleship and our efforts in evangelism are to be successful, then preparation is key.  All our plans to sustain our denomination, to further our efforts to reach out into our local communities, to keep our individual churches alive and to follow in the steps of Jesus, all need preparation! We need to listen to what Jesus is telling us; we need to trust that it is the right way, and we need to prepare accordingly.

We cannot enter into our discipleship willy-nilly, hoping for success, without preparation.
 
Prayer

Lord of all,
we long to be successful in our faith and discipleship,
we long to be able to tell out the Good News.
We often enter into projects without consulting you,
without preparation inspired by you,
without asking your advice,
and sometimes even without thinking.
We ask that you give us the mindset that starts with prayer,
the mindset that we listen carefully for your advice,
the mindset that we place our trust in your suggestions.
We ask for strength and courage
in our preparation and our resolve, dear Lord.
Amen.