Text: ‘They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept’ – Song of Solomon 1:6

Thought: ‘You’ve been blessed with bad teeth!’ was mum’s prognosis concerning my many trips to the dentist. What a blessing! The truth was, I loved sugar and sweets and I didn’t bother to clean my teeth properly. However, when the appointment came through for my next visit to the dentist, then I started brushing like crazy, morning and evening. With only 3 weeks’ notice, it was too late to make any real difference. Injections, drilling and filling was the norm.

The same can be true spiritually. We fail to maintain a lifestyle of purity and holiness, letting standards drop, when suddenly a crisis looms large. Then we start praying! Sometimes God graciously answers and we get a deliverance. Other times we end up defeated solely because it caught us unprepared.

Likewise, when opportunities to minister, pray for someone in need or to share our testimony arise, we can frantically start trying to ‘repair’ our relationship with God, so that we might be in the right frame of mind to reach out to others with the gospel. Unfortunately, this kind of Christianity normally has left it too late to be really effective. God may well end up honouring the faith of the other person, rather than our own.

How much better it is when we are proactive – cleaning our teeth every day, come rain or shine. The result usually is little or no treatment required on that dreaded appointment day. We know that the day of reckoning is coming, so prepare for it now!

Being proactive helps us to ‘influence’ the hand of God into action, because we are ready and prepared. Our faith levels are high because we have taken time daily to pray, read the Bible and fellowship with the Lord. Instead of hiding when trouble comes, as King Saul did when attacked by the Philistine army, proactive Christians are like Jonathan, Saul’s son, who said, ‘Let’s see what we can make happen with God’s help.’ The result was to rout the enemy – see 1 Samuel 14:1-23.

Who knows what lies ahead? But if we’ve taken time with the Lord today, then we will be better prepared to face our tomorrows. That’s enough to make anyone smile!