Sinuman sa inyo ang natatakot o naduduwag ay maaari nang umuwi; baka maduwag ding kagaya niya ang iba.

Deuteronomio 20:8

There is always some sort of preparation involved before we do anything easy or challenging. Heading to work means taking a bath and putting on office attire, unless you work from home. Cooking a meal means buying and preparing all the ingredients before combining them. Hosting a party requires confirming the guest list, ordering or preparing the right amount of food, and setting up the furniture to accommodate all your guests. Skipping one or more of these steps could mean not accomplishing said task. Or you could get it done, but not as well as you could have if you followed the preparation guidelines to the letter.

This is similar to what the Lord commanded to the Israelite soldiers in Deuteronomy 20:5–8 before they were to enter the Promised Land. Each man had to be ready for war by having their house dedicated to the Lord (v. 5), savoring the produce of their vineyard (v. 6), marry their betrothed (if they had one; v. 7), and not be afraid of fighting their enemies (v. 8). At heto pa ‘yung malala sa batas nila sa pakikidigma: Kung isa sa mga ito ay hindi nila nagawa, hindi sila puwedeng lumaban sa giyera, lalo na kung may duwag, dahil maaapektuhan din ang mga kapwa nilang sundalo. 

If you are entrusted with a responsibility or a task, don’t be mediocre about it by skipping steps or ignoring instructions. Prepare by asking for God’s help in doing everything according to the right processes.