The Christian is called to be salt, which I believe is part of their sanctification:
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” -Matthew 5:13
If a Christian blends in with the world, and one cannot tell they are different, then their salt has lost its savor. They bring no distinct flavor, but instead bring more of the same.
There’s the salt. Now – prepper? I thought the title was catchy and cute. Is a Christian to prepare for bad times, or no? We have such Scriptures as the below, which many of us rest on (myself included):
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” -Matthew 6:25-34
I do not see that the above says a Christian shouldn’t stock up and prepare for the worst. What I see in the above, is that it’s about thought and trust. Regardless if a Christian is prepared for the worst-case scenario or not, if they are not first seeking the Kingdom of God, it is worthless. If one can’t stock up for more than a few days or a week at a time, that’s okay – IF they are seeking first the Kingdom of God. If the Christian needs to stock up, but doesn't have the ability, God will make it happen, if they trust Him. If one has stocked up foodstuffs and what not for years, that’s good, but only if they are seeking first the Kingdom of God. Below is a parable about a man who was so well stocked up, that he retired from working, but he didn’t seek first the Kingdom of God:
“And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” -Luke 12:16-21
This man did not seek first the Kingdom of God, and therefore had no treasures in heaven.
I believe that we shouldn’t retire from our jobs. (For us homemakers, our jobs are also our ministries - that of keeping the home.) Even if we retire from jobs, we should never retire from work. I’ve seen so many healthy elderly people who continue to lead active, productive lives. They keep working. Just the other day the kids and I were out walking, and we passed a woman who was clearly in her mid to late 70s, and she was jogging. She was smiling, and said “hi, how are you doing?” without being out of breath. I turned to my children and told them that’s how I want to be, at her age. She is amazing. I think she didn’t retire. I think she lives a productive life and is a hard worker.
The man in the above parable decided to stop working all together, and just feed his flesh. He didn’t seek out God first, so that’s all he had were his earthly treasures. He had no eternal treasures.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” -Matthew 6:19-21
If we are able to stock up our pantries for months ahead, in case of future financial trials, or worse, then that is great. It is not great, however, if that is our treasure. I am reminded of an episode of “Extreme Couponing.” I don’t usually watch the show, but I flipped to it the other day to take a look. The woman was so proud of her stock of food and household stuffs that she got via couponing. It was her life. Everything she did revolved around it. She even enjoyed sitting in her stock area, and just staring at her “treasures.”
That’s the wrong type of treasure. If you are able to store up food and home stuffs, then that is great, but not if it’s your treasure. I urge you to do so, not like the man in the above parable, but instead like the woman of Proverbs 31:
“She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.” -Proverbs 31:20-21
She is not afraid to use some of her stock to give to the needy. She does not hoard it all to herself. If she sees someone who needs help, she doesn’t shoot them and proclaim them a “zombie,” but instead gives them a hand of help, and feeds them.
The above also tells us that she is not concerned for the needs of her family, because all of that is already prepared for in advance. Will it snow? That’s okay – she has warm clothes and food for everyone. She is ready. She is stocked up, but it is not her treasure, it is her ministry. It is used to help and bless her family, as well as the needy.
“She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.” Proverbs 31:27
She looks well to the way her household. She takes inventory of what she has, and what she needs. She is not lazy. She gets the work done, and she makes sure her family is well taken care of.
“Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.” Proverbs 31:31
Amen.
If you can’t stock anything up at the moment, then don’t. God will take care of you, whether you are in plenty, or whether you are in famine, if you seek FIRST the Kingdom of God. All things will work out:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” –Romans 8:28
Regardless if we are able to stock up or not, we should always strive to increase our skills in self-sufficiency. Can you go outside and pick a vegetarian dish for your family that is not toxic, but is delicious, filling, and nutritious? If this is something you desire to learn, and if you are a homeschooling family, then learn it with your children. They will love it, and it can be part of your nature study curriculum.
Meanwhile, if you don’t have much of a grocery budget, then what about just buying one extra thing each week? One week, get a big bag of dried pinto beans for around five dollars. The next, two extra five-pound bags of whole wheat flour for around six dollars. The next, an extra bottle of olive oil. The next week, a large bottle of vinegar, etc.
I pray that nothing bad happens, but if possible, we should stock up, just in case.
Now, you may be blessed and are doing just fine financially, and can really stock up. Then consider yourself in the years of plenty, like the seven years of plenty in Egypt, recorded in the book of Genesis. Joseph, Pharaoh, and other people stocked up LOTS of grain, because they already knew, via a message from God, that famine was coming. Sure enough, after the seven years of plenty, there were seven years of famine.
Perhaps you are in the years of plenty right now. Prepare for famine, but let's hope it never happens.
If you stock up, what do you stock up on? If you are looking for suggestions – I would simply say this: stock up on what you use, and use what you stock up on. Stocking up should never be an obsession, and I’m not talking about doing it because of some impending doom. I’m talking about doing it as part of “she looketh well to the ways of her household,” and “she is not afraid of the snow for her household.” Meanwhile, in up and coming articles in this series, we will delve into some things I personally suggest you stock up on.
1) Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, even if that means you can’t stock up on one thing.
2) Store up treasures in heaven. If you don’t know what this means, then please study Matthew chapter 6, and study also Matthew 12:35-37, which is below:
“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
Compare the above with and study 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, which says:
“Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
You cannot store treasures in heaven, if you are not heaven bound. To find out how to be sure you will go to heaven when you die (or when rapture happens) click here.
3) Once you are doing steps one and two, then consider starting to store up foods and household goods, in case of a “rainy day,” or worse.
Let us be salt and prepper Christians. Salt, via justification, sanctification, glorification, and edification, and prepper via taking good care of our families.
