June 23, 2026

Business by the Book

Matthew 5:1  And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 

Before the Lord preached what many regard as the greatest sermon ever, the Sermon on the Mount, he took time to get set. …when he was set… The Lord knew that before any great undertaking a person must be set. Their mind must be set, their plan must be set, their resources must be set, their goal must be set, every detail must be accounted for and every eventuality considered. Some may say that the phrase …When he was set... simply means He found a place from which to speak to a large audience. This is a presumption because the Bible does not expand on what being set meant; it only says that He was set.

This phrase could mean much more. It could mean the words He would speak had been planned. It could mean He prayed about the message and was now ready to deliver it. It could mean He was physically rested and ready to exert Himself in preaching, or that He was waiting for a certain time of day, or that He needed to catch His breath after climbing up the mountain He was on. Surely choosing a good place could have been part of His being set to preach but it certainly was not all that it means.

In your job, being set is part of being successful. Aristotle said: “Well begun is half done.” Part of being well begun is to be set.

Years ago my son and I were deer hunting way down in south Texas. On the evening hunt I shot a very nice ten point trophy. Through my scope I saw that the deer was hit in the area that the right front leg connects to the body. It jumped a fence and stumbled off through the very dense prickly pear cactus. Very slowly and safely I climbed down my tripod stand and began tracking the wounded deer. As expected he turned this way and that way, making no sense or reason as to its path. Finally I found the wounded deer standing under a Mesquite tree behind a ton of brush. He just stood there looking at me and I stood there looking at him. He was breathing heavy and I was breathing heavy. I raised my rifle, but just as I began thinking about taking the shot I thought of my son. He was in a blind somewhere behind that deer. I really didn’t know how far away he was, but I knew that I was facing the general direction of where he was.

I could not shoot, for I did not know exactly where my son was, my shell could be deflected by any of the brush between me and the deer. I decided not to shoot, but rather to circle behind the deer. As I moved he moved and I never saw him again. To this day I do not regret my decision not to shoot, because even a small chance was too much of a chance to take. I figured the Lord put that thought into my mind for a reason. Regardless, I could not shoot because I was not fully set to do so. Part of being set for this situation is to know where the other hunter is, and I did not fully know that piece of information.

Before you pull the trigger on any task, make sure you are fully set. Not to do so is unwise and could be extremely unsafe.

Dr. William Howe