Gas Station Ready

A friend of mine recently was involved in an altercation at a local gas station. An inebriated man approached my friend and accused him staring. As the man angrily approached and prepared to attack, my friend quickly responded by taking him to the ground and quickly moving to a position called the mount. My friend then calmly talked to the man while he controlled his entire body. My friend had been training Brazilian Jui Jitsu for a little less than a year, but was entirely prepared for this situation. He did exactly what he had trained to do each day in Jui Jitsu class. He was what we refer to as “Gas Station Ready”. This means, he was ready to implement his training in a real world scenario, like an attack at a gas station.
 My question for us as Christians is this: Are you gas station ready with your faith? If someone was to ask you why you believe in God or what is the gospel, would you be ready to respond? If someone asked you a question about Jesus or the Bible, would you be ready to answer? It is one thing to read the Bible- it is another thing to train yourself to share and defend your beliefs.
… in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
1 Peter 3:15-16
Everyday is either a training day or game day. We either have an opportunity to prepare to lead people to be more like Jesus or to study and prepare so that we are ready for that opportunity. As a Christian, I can’t simply decide to read my Bible when convenient; I must decide to train everyday. I think one of the reasons that many people aren’t seeing the power of the Holy Spirit moving in their lives is because we have allowed the name “Christian” to simply mean, “someone who goes to church”. We think training, teaching, and discipling others is for the “professional” Christians- like pastors. This is the opposite of everything Jesus taught.
We are empowered as his followers.
We are empowered by his Holy Spirit.
We are equipped through our daily study of His word.
We are called to be GAS STATION READY.