Prepare for Action
Do you intentionally prepare your mind for action?
Verse of the Day
“So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.”
Today’s Devotional
Some days, as I am researching a verse, other people explain things so much better than I can. Here is an excerpt from bibleref.com:
“What does it mean to set or fix our hope on something? It’s a question of where we will turn to find meaning for our lives, to find relief from suffering, to fill up the emptiness that every soul experiences (Romans 8:22–25). With what will we occupy our hearts? In what will we invest our thoughts, energy, and focus? If all that Peter has told us so far in this letter is true—that we, as Christians, will be resurrected as Christ was, that God guards us and our inheritance with Him in eternity, that our salvation is secure—then there is only one logical place to set our hope. That is in God’s grace to us at the future coming of Jesus, the moment in which all the longings of our hearts will be fully satisfied.
Still, even for those of us who believe, it is difficult for us to keep our hope set on that day. In fact, we are told to make a deliberate choice to set our hope there. We need to do this on purpose, instead of setting our hope on things that cannot truly satisfy, such as money, pleasure, or prestige. Obeying this command will take mental work. So Peter writes that we should stay alert, “preparing your minds for action.”
We must take control of where our thoughts go, and what our minds dwell on. If we do not fully engage in intentional hope-setting, we will be easily distracted by the false hope of satisfaction the world continually offers us.”
The American Standard translation of this verse tells us to “gird up the lions of our minds.” This is the equivalent up mentally rolling up our sleeves to get to work. Do you ever picture your thoughts being work? Or do you just allow your thoughts to happen – to go where they want to go? Enduringword.com says that this directive – to prepare our minds for actions – is: “to get rid of loose and sloppy thinking; to bring the rational and reflective powers of your mind under control. It means to control what you think about, those things you decide to set your mind upon.”
We are being instructed that our thoughts need intentional direction. We are not to let our minds wander around wherever they want to go. We simply do not have that luxury, because we all probably have evidence of the dangers of a wandering mind. Left unattended, our minds might go to comparison, judgment of others, self-condemnation, pride, indulgence, fear, worry, doubt, or any number of places where we are not meant to dwell mentally. Instead, we have the power, with the Spirit’s help, to direct our thinking to be focused on God. On all He has done for us. On the hope of eternity with Him. On how we can live a life of grateful response to His goodness.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Where does your mind go when you allow it to wander?
How have you seen a difference in your day when you are more intentionally focused on God?
How can you prepare your mind for action today?
How can you exercise self-control in your thinking today?
What would it look like for you to put your hope fully in Jesus today?