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“gird up the loins of your mind” (1 Peter 1:13, NKJV)
The starting point for Christian living is the mind. We make up our mind whom we will follow – the living God or idols. We come to Christ through repentance and faith. In repentance we reject our own capability to save ourselves and our own proclivity to serve ourselves, and we embrace Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
The most prominent word in the Greek New Testament for repentance has to do with the mind. From that reorientation of the mind we bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance. We are to set our minds on things above where we are seated with Christ. We are renewed by the transforming of our mind. We are to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, a frontline challenge for the conduct of spiritual warfare in the course of our Christian lives.
So it’s no surprise that Peter instructs us to “gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13). “Gird up” might sound strange to our ear but basically it has to do with preparation. We might think of steeling ourselves to receive bad news or readying ourselves for some endeavor. The image is of rolling up our sleeves to get down to the task at hand.
Earlier Peter reminded us that we were chosen for obedience and then went on to describe the glorious hope that is ours in Christ. Now he calls us to get down to the business of obedience, fueled by his words of courage and comfort. In so doing, we purpose to honor Christ in our beliefs and in our behavior. The Christian life is an intentional life. We must remain sober-minded, serious and focused in the conduct of our lives.
Peter lifts our eyes to the horizon of our lives, calling us to focus on the return of our Lord Jesus. There we see a sure hope and an end to our struggles and suffering. The grace that’s brought us safe thus far is the grace that will bring us home.
REFLECTION: We live in the moment in light of eternity. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Unless noted otherwise, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.