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By Mary Baldridge

'I want to be ready, I want to be ready, I want to be ready, to walk in Jerusalem just like John.'

What a great song to think about as we end the summer and begin the fall season. I want to be ready.

But what do we want to be ready for? Ready for school or fall activities? Ready to meet new friends and see those who we haven?t seen while we have been on summer vacations. Ready to learn new things and hear the old stories. I want to be ready!

In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul shares with the church in Achaia province that he has bragged about how they have been ready to give money, enthusiastically, for a year.

Knowing that members of other churches will be paying a 'check on you' visit to Achaia, Paul alerts them to be ready for this visit and not to be found wavering in their commitment and appearing to be less generous than they truly are. It was a call to remain ready to be generous at all times.

Last year we were called on to reach out and be ready to help people who were in need of assistance because of the many, large natural disasters. When the tsunami and earthquake struck in Asia and hurricanes destroyed large areas of this country, members of our conference gave enthusiastically. When a few members of my district wanted to go to Mississippi to help rebuild homes and lives after Katrina struck, we expected about 15 people and to our surprise we ended up with 30. We were ready and, through our sharing, gained much.

God calls us to be ready to plant our feet firmly on the love of Christ so we can reach out to others and share our love. God calls us to put aside our old ways and to open our eyes to new possibilities and opportunities.

In 'The Message' version of the Bible, Paul said, 'God pours out blessings in astonishing ways so that we are ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done.'

As one psalmist puts it: 'He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out.'

How blessed we are to have the opportunity to ready ourselves to serve no matter what needs to be done. We prepare our hearts and set our eyes on Jesus and then we are ready to throw caution to the wind and serve others with the joy and the enthusiasm of the early church. We can go and give wherever we are called with the knowledge and assurance that we are not alone. We are ready.

Mary Baldridge is a member of Baldwin Memorial UMC in Millersville.