Prepare Your Mind

The Word is first...

1 Peter 1:13-16 (NIV)

¹³ Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”^a

^a Lev. 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

The Christian life is not one of passivity. Knowledge is not gained by osmosis and growth is not realized through a sedentary life. One of the great promises in scripture is found in Romans 12:2 wherein we are called to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is not something that just 'happens' to us nor do we have no responsibility to contribute to this process.

This passage today calls us to meaningful and purposeful action. It challenges us to take responsibility for contributing to our spiritual growth through intention and application.

This passage calls us to 'prepare your minds for action.' We should add knowledge of God's word through study but we should also be looking forward to how we are going to apply that knowledge not only to our own lives but into the lives of others as well.

This passage challenges us to 'be self-controlled.' Truly, self-control is a gift of the spirit but it is not something that can be developed passively. It requires exercise and as this passage exhorts, we are to 'be self-controlled.' This implies a continuous and ongoing effort, eschewing our self and our selfish desires, to lay aside those types of thoughts, feelings and behaviors that we may be suitable for use by God.

Further, this passage advises us to 'set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.' This really gets me fired up because I know the grace I have already received and it's enough for me! But it's not all that God has in store for me. As this verse teaches, we are to look forward with great anticipation to what is coming when our Lord Jesus is revealed to all the world and his glory is unavoidable.

The next verse (v14) reminds me that though I am a parent (hehe) I am also God's child and as such there are expectations and responsibilities. To begin with, there is the implied expectation that I will be obedient to God. And as an obedient child, I am called to never return to the indulgences of my prior life, I am not to "conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance." Yes, I was ignorant. Ignorant that my behavior and my desires were separating me from God and hurting people at a deep level. But now that my eyes have been opened to the truth of Jesus Christ, I have no excuse and instead I have a choice. This verse is about that choice. I can choose death and follow my evil desires despite the fact that I know better. I can choose life and follow God.

Verses 15 & 16 charge and challenge me to BE HOLY. Just as the previous verse charged me to be self-controlled, this verse calls me to BE HOLY. That is, engage in a purposeful, ongoing and neverending quest to bring myself ever closer to that holiness which is our God. Though I can never achieve holiness in this life, nevertheless, I am to do everything in my power to preserve my body as a temple, as a holy place that is suitable for the presence of God. This I must do because God has said "Be holy, because I am holy." That is a direct command that echoes down the corridor of time from the book of Leviticus and loudly proclaims to me today that I have a responsibility to God.

So today my prayer is that God will grant me the strength to do all that is written here that I can become a vessel of noble purpose. That I can serve and not detract. That I can go and represent Him in all that I do.

Peace Out,
Carl