Prepare Your Mind for Action!
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.
1 Peter 1:13
Wow – this verse just pierced my heart this past weekend. The Bible has so much to say about protecting our minds from the influences of this world and the lies of our numero uno enemy – Satan! I don’t think we realize how influenceable and moldable our minds are. Romans 12:1 tells us not be conformed to this world’s patterns of behavior. But before we can deal with our external behaviors, we must deal with the faulty thinking that is at the root cause of the behavior.
Jesus teaches us this very thing in Matthew 15. The Scribes and Pharisees found the lack of hand washing by Jesus’ disciples offensive. Hand washing was very much a ritual behavior of this group because they didn’t want anything to defile their bodies. Jesus totally turned this situation into a teachable moment. He basically told them that it was not what went into their bodies by way of the mouth that defiled them. Rather, its what came out their mouths – which originates in the heart – that really defiled them! Whoa! Strong’s Lexicon defines heart as the fountain and seat of all thoughts!
Do you see what Jesus did here? He taught them that if their minds were dwelling on things like adultery, fornications, false witness, slander, evil thoughts, and theft, that eventually corrupts the heart and will come spewing out of the mouth! The external behavior is just a manifestation of what is rolling around in the mind. Jesus basically tells us to quit focusing on the behaviors and start focusing on the source – our THOUGHTS.
Many of us can quote Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Conforming and transforming are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Conforming is just being squeezed into someone else’s pattern. But being transformed (metamorphoo in Greek), means to be CHANGED! How is the change achieved? By the renewing of our minds. And just like there is no secret to losing weight – eat less, move more – there is no secret to renewing your minds. You must be in God’s Word and seek His face in prayer. Nothing mystical or super spiritual about it – just the basics!
So as the verse at the top of this post says, “Prepare your minds for action…”! Don’t let your mind be idle because this is when Satan’s influences can sneak in and conform your mind to the world’s patterns. Put on that helmet of salvation Paul tells us about in Ephesians 6. The word “prepare” in this verse really means to gird up any long, flowing garments that might hinder your progress or work in the journey.
What thoughts are rolling around in your mind that are hindering your Christian journey? By fixing your hope COMPLETELY on grace, you can gird up those thoughts – take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5) – and live a victorious life! You will not have any significant changes in behavior until you have significant changes in your thought life. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7.