…they prepared the Passover.

Luke 22:13 ESV

When I read this verse, I was struck by the thought of Jesus being prepared as the Passover.

His arrest was hours away. What needed to still be prepared? Jesus needed to wash his disciples’ feet, including Judas. He needed to pray for the disciples and to surrender His will. He needed to tell Peter what was about to happen.

We need preparation too. We want to jump to the action. It’s not wrong to want to be used by God, but we need first to be surrendered to Him and let Him complete our preparations.

Peter wasn’t ready to be the leader of the church until he was allowed to be sifted by Satan. Paul wasn’t ready to be the author of the Pauline epistles until he had been removed from his zealous service and taught of Christ alone in Arabia. Even Jesus wasn’t ready to be the Passover Lamb until He had fulfilled all other things, including coming to the point of shedding blood to resist sin.

May we surrender to the preparations, even when we are already in service, to allow Him to make us ready for His use in whatever good works He’s prepared for us to do. May we never seek the glory of service, but glory in the call to surrender all. Have your way in us and through us, O Lord.