In The Word
Read: 1 Peter 1:13-2:3
13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
“All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
And the flower falls off,
25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word which was preached to you.
As Newborn Babes
2 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
In this passage, we find Peter instructing the followers of Christ on how they should posture themselves during the persecution they were receiving. He states in verse 13 that they should “gird up the loins of their mind.” To “gird up” is a very strong statement that signifies that their minds will be pulled to abandon what they knew to be the truth of Jesus Christ. The persecutors of the church at that time were trying to provoke the believers to anger and hopelessness; however, Peter’s words worked to help them keep their hope in Christ Jesus.
As believers in the twenty-first century, we need to “gird up the loins of our minds.” The world tries to make us feel hopeless and that our efforts to reveal Christ to a wayward world are in vain. It is almost a crime to mention Jesus in a public forum and to live our faith openly. Fortunately, we can all take refuge in the knowledge of Jesus’ unfailing love for us. We know that our hope is not in human reasoning, but in the risen Savior alone.
Ask yourself, “What have I allowed to take my hope away?” Once you have identified the hindrances in your mind, you can allow the spirit of God to work on you. Remember, it wasn’t perishable things that saved you, but the blood of Jesus.