Last week, we drew examples of adequate preparation for our callings from Jesus and John the Baptist. This week, we must add Paul the Apostle to this list. In the book, “Angels on Assignment” by Charles and Frances Hunter, God allowed Roland Buck to take a look at a book containing the blueprint of Paul’s life. It was written in that book that Paul “would be used to bring the Gospel to kings, rulers, and men of authority. For this reason, God gave him a bigger brain capacity than normal, and because he was more brilliant, he caused him to study under the greatest teachers of his day, finally being tutored by Gamaliel, the most outstanding teacher of that time. God had chosen Paul to write the Scripture, the Epistles, His plan for the church and His body, so he prepared him for this task.”

Contrary to what many say, Paul was highly educated in the Scriptures before he received the call to the ministry. Those who think otherwise use this as an excuse not to prepare in as far as acquisition of Bible and ministry knowledge is concerned. However, as we have read in the above excerpt from “Angels on Assignment”, and as evidenced in the Bible, the man Paul prepared adequately for his assignment by diligent study. Yes, Paul was well-read; he knew his stuff.

It must be noted that the Christianity which Paul became a part of was never meant to be a new religion. In those early days of the ‘Jesus Movement’, Christianity was simply a sect of Judaism that believed that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. That is why even after Paul’s conversion, he still called himself a Pharisee of Pharisees and continued offering sacrifices in the temple, just like many other Jews who did not believe that Jesus was the Christ. Therefore, when Paul sat at the feet of Gamaliel, (an accomplished Pharisee), he was actually preparing for his calling. And it is that intense preparation of study that later made him an effective minister of the gospel.

Now, for each one of us, just like it was with Paul, there is written in a book in heaven, all the days we are to live on earth and what we were created to accomplish for God (Psalms 139:16; Hebrews 10:7). Therefore, like Paul, we too must be intentional in preparing for what we were created to do for God by diligent study. Please let us study about whatever God has called us to do, in order to acquire the relevant knowledge that will make us effective. If we need to go to school let us do so. If school is not an option then let us discipline ourselves to study on our own.

And please, let us never stop reading. The day we stop reading is the day we will stop learning. Let us take Paul for our example; even towards the end of his ministry, he was still reading because his hunger for knowledge (in order to be effective in his calling) never waned. We hear him telling Timothy, “Bring me. . . the books, especially the parchments” (2 Timothy 4:13).

I pray that “books and parchments” will always be our close companions. For in their company we will succeed in our assignments, and accordingly bring joy to our God’s heart.

Amen.