Prepare Every Needful Thing

Another theme that we see in the Doctrine and Covenants is the need for preparation.  In the preface to the book, the Lord counseled us, “Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh” (D&C 1:12).  In the section that was originally the appendix (though reveled only two days after section 1), the Savior said almost the same thing: “Wherefore, prepare ye, prepare ye, O my people; sanctify yourselves” (D&C 133:4).  And the commandment to be prepared is a theme that runs through many of the revelations in between.  For example, the Savior said, “Call upon the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come” (D&C 65:5).  Another similarly spoke of the need for preparation because of challenges ahead: “If they will do my will and keep my commandments concerning them, let them gather themselves together unto the places which I shall appoint unto them by my servant Joseph, and build up cities unto my name, that they may be prepared for that which is in store for a time to come” (D&C 125:2).  Yet another gave essentially the same message: “Wherefore the decree hath gone forth from the Father that they shall be gathered in unto one place upon the face of this land, to prepare their hearts and be prepared in all things against the day when tribulation and desolation are sent forth upon the wicked” (D&C 29:8).  There will be great challenges ahead and the Lord warns us to be prepared spiritually so that we aren’t overcome by the enemy. 

                And yet, there is a scriptural statement that seems to tell us not to prepare.  The Lord told His disciples, “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?… Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take a thought for the things of itself” (Matt. 6:25, 34).  The Lord repeated the counsel in our dispensation, “Therefore, take ye no thought for the morrow, for what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed” (D&C 84:81).  So how do we understand the command to prepare with this counsel to take no thought for the morrow?  Perhaps the simple statement about preparation that is repeated in two different revelations helps: “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing” (D&C 88:119, 109:8).  This seems to imply that there are some things that we must prepare for—that which is “needful”—and other things that we should not prepare for.  So how do we tell what kind of preparation is “needful”?  The Savior told Martha when she was busy preparing the house, “But one thing is needful” (Luke 10:42).  Sister Holland suggested that this passage teaches us that “The one thing that is needful—the only thing that is truly needful—is to keep your eyes toward [the] Son.”  Following Jesus Christ is the needful thing; it is the great preparation that we must make.  We must one day be “prepared to meet God” as Alma taught, and preparation that helps us to be ready for that day is the needful preparation (Alma 5:28).  What the Lord counseled at least one group not to prepare for or take thought for some of the physical needs of life, but we most certainly must prepare spiritually to one day come before the Son of God.  That is the kind of preparation which if we make, we “shall not fear” (D&C 38:30).