Living Stones – Thursday, September 21, 2017
Mind in action
I Peter 1:13
… gird up the loins of your mind …
The action is in the head.
The King James translators rendered this verse in the first letter from the Apostle Peter in the New Testament as “gird up the loins of your mind” as we quoted above and, in so doing, created an idiom that stays with us today – gird up your loins.
The scholars of New Testament Greek tell us that the words used in the original autographs were intended to convey the idea of someone from that era and culture when they wore long robes and a broad belt; the robes got in the way of vigorous activity and swift movement, so one had to gather and pull up the garment to tuck it into the belt to make swift movement possible. Today we might use an alternative idiom and say, “let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.”
Peter starts his letter by laying out the nature of the salvation we have received from God in Christ, and introduces us to the fact that we have received what others, whom we celebrate, searched for but didn’t get to enjoy, “… the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing …”
Peter says to his readers, that having received this “living hope” because of what God did “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” we, therefore, have a responsibility to “Be holy, for [God is] holy.” The verse we are focused on is sandwiched between this awesome picture of our salvation, and the imperative for holiness on our part.
For Peter, the crux of the matter is in our heads. In order for us to respond to grace with holiness we need to recognise that our minds have to be set and ready for the things that will come at us requiring sober and sound judgement.
Those with lazy minds, those who are not prepared to think deeply on the philosophies of the time, and those who are not prepared to identify the devil’s schemes, are unprepared to face today’s challenges to holiness.
The philosophers of our time have, once again, reframed the fundamental questions of life, and by the success of human endeavor have sought to replace God with their own ideas. The ideas are infused into everything including our technology, our education system, our governance structures, our entertainment, and our culture as a whole.
Only the minds that are prepared for action can really distinguish the gradual but continuous subversion that the enemy of our souls has unleashed. Only minds that are prepared for vigorous activity and swift action are ready to handle the issues of our time.
Later in the letter, Peter tell us to “… always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you …”
We must not relinquish thought to those outside of the church, this is a dangerous practice since, ideas, hostile to the truth of the scripture, come into the church and find no defences. Often, these ideas take root in our individual lives too, because we have not put our minds to determine what we believe and why we believe it. We must fix our faith in our heads.
Think of these things:
- What do you think are the key questions of our time?
- Have you ever taken the time to learn the doctrines of our faith – what we believe and why we believe it?
- Are you able to explain your faith to someone trying to make sense of life in today’s challenging circumstances?
Prayer focus:
Pray today for the help of the Holy Spirit as we study God’s word and prepare to share our faith with those struggling with the issues of our time.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex