Always Be Ready
Groan-worthy dad-joke teaches a Biblical lesson
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But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess.
1 Peter 3:15 (NET)
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This kind of feels like weird phrasing:
“…set Christ apart as Lord…”
What could that mean?
Remember, the word “holy” means to set apart.
I have an easier time understanding the verse if I put the idea of making Christ holy in my life. That tracks with the expectations I have of the Bible.
It makes sense that we would be encouraged to make Christ holy in our hearts.
But what about this “always be ready” stuff?
A lot of people have used this verse to spring into a teaching around having your testimony prepared. That’s pretty easy to see, so I get why they say that.
But there’s a bigger principle at work here.
God has a lot of wisdom to give around being someone who is prepared.
One of my spiritual heroes, Max Barnett, once said, “I’d rather hear a prepared man preach an unprepared sermon than hear an unprepared man preach a prepared sermon.”
For context, he was speaking about praying in spiritual preparation.
It’s a good thing to have both a prepared testimony memorized AND spend daily time in prayer.
To make an obvious dad-joke out of this idea:
Always be pre-prayer-ed.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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