August 7, 2022 GIRD YOUR MIND
1 Peter 1:13-16 “Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in your spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children do not be conformed to the former lust which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written; ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
Gird is a word we rarely or never use in our day. It has the idea of putting on a belt, or preparing oneself for action. Our mindset is critically important; and we are responsible for the mindset we have. It seems that in our culture many have a mindset that is often in neutral, simply responding and soaking in whatever one chooses to read on line; responding and seeking entertainment seems to be much more prevalent than taking action. It is a good word for us-‘to gird our minds for action;’ Our minds are a gift from God and are to be used for the purpose of overcoming in life and for achieving our purpose in life. We think of action as being physical activity, but in this passage, the action is action that takes place in our thinking process-in our minds. We are to be sober in spirit; we are not to let our spirit be ‘intoxicated’ with anything that distracts us from living according to how God has designed us-His design is that we know Him, that we enjoy Him, and that we walk in His ways. If not alert, and if we do not take action in our minds, our spirits can become focused on ‘other things’-whatever they may be. We are to ‘fix’ our hope on all that will take place when Jesus returns; that hope is sure and will come to pass, and that hope impacts how we live until His coming. Because we are looking for His return, we are to be holy in our behavior; we are to be being conformed to His image-and He is holy. At salvation we are made new, we are not to be conformed back to who we were before our salvation; we are called to leave behind anything that is unlike Christ. This all may sound like a high and unattainable goal, but God has made such a life available to us; we can live as holy and righteous people. Living in holiness and righteousness does not make us better than anyone else and is not something we take pride in; knowing that we can live in such a way only because God has made it possible, humbles us and makes us thankful for His grace. So, let us guard our minds and put our minds in action to be sober in spirit, having our hope on the revelation of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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