Keeping Our Focus

Imagine yourself to be an Israelite on the night of the first Passover, eagerly anticipation your deliverance from Egypt: you eat the roasted lamb hurriedly, wearing your sandals, walking stick in hand. You have your loins girded. Huh? If that last phrase doesn’t quite make sense, don’t worry; it’s one of those things that make sense when you remember that during those times, people were dressed in long, flowing robes so they would tie their robes around themselves before any physically demanding activity so as to be able to move freely. In other words, to have your loins girded means to be ready for action.

The Lord Jesus Christ picked up on this imagery in Luke 12:35 when he told his disciples “Let your loins be girded about and your lights burning” to emphasize the need for them to be always alert as they await his second coming. In turn, the apostle Peter borrows the metaphor when he writes in 1 Peter 1:13 “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Peter writes this passage as he seeks to draw out the implications of the Christian’s living hope that he had spoken of previously. Having reminded us that we who have trusted in Jesus Christ have an imperishable, undefiled and unfading inheritance especially reserved for us in heaven, he is now showing us how this reality that we will enjoy in the future must shape the way we live in the present.

Peter is not merely making a suggestion; he’s issuing a command. In effect, he’s telling us that if we share in the Christian hope, this is the way we must behave. To act otherwise is to live as if you don’t have this glorious hope.

What then is Peter commanding us to do, in light of this sure and steadfast hope? Perhaps the New American Standard Bible’s rendition will help us understand the passage better:

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

In telling us to “prepare our minds for action” and to “keep sober in spirit” he is calling us to mental diligence. One of the sad realities of our day is that many of us don’t use our God-given minds enough, and when we do use them, we don’t use them well because we have not exercised ourselves to think clearly and properly. This true of society in general, but unfortunately, Christians are not exempt. As historian Mark Noll put it, “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there isn’t much of it.”

We must always remember that we are called to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. In fact, one might say that the strength of our heart’s affections for God and the ability to harness our strength so that we maximize our efforts for God’s glory depend largely on our mental discipline. Mind you, I didn’t say mental ability; I said mental discipline. Many people tend to convey the notion that because they’re not smart, you can’t expect them to think too much. The issue is not your I.Q.; the issue is what you do with it. We are to be good stewards of the minds God has given us. We are to train ourselves to use our minds rightly. It is a non-negotiable command that demands our compliance.

Why? So that we may “fix our hope completely on the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Implicitly, Peter recognizes that it is easy for us to lose sight of this hope that is set before us. This is particularly true in light of the fact that we don’t know the exact time when Christ will return. Unless we discipline our minds to focus our attentions and affections on heaven, our eager anticipation of Christ’s return will soon turn into complacency, and eventually into apathy.

Worse, because we live in a world that offers a great many pleasures, there is a great tendency for our attention to be divided, and ultimately diverted. The temptation is very subtle. We can get so caught up in enjoying legitimate pleasures (such as material blessings and meaningful relationships) that our priorities shift as the present pleasures begin to loom larger in our minds than the promised joys of the future. It’s not that we no longer care for that glorious hope; it’s that we have gotten so caught up in the good things of this life, that our hunger for the next life has been dulled. We’ve become like children who’ve spent so much time snacking on cheese puffs that we are not eager for the juicy steak that is to be our dinner. We still want it, but we don’t mind putting it off for later. We need to think clearly so that we see these pleasures in their proper perspective: as tokens of God’s grace intended to point us beyond the immediate to the greater future that he has in store for us. They are but appetizers meant to sharpen our anticipation for the main course.

When the desire for legitimate pleasures has begun to diminish our desire for God, then we have fallen prey to idolatry. We have begun to be captivated by the world’s deceitful promise of pleasure enjoyed apart from God. Unless we train ourselves to evaluate all offers and promises against the glorious hope that God has laid out for us, we will easily be allured by these false promises.

How then do “gird up the loins of our minds?” When Peter speaks of “preparing our minds for action,” he is speaking to us with the understanding that we are those who have been enlightened, so that our perspective is no longer that of the world. Our minds and hearts have been reoriented so that we are now able to love God instead of revolting against him. The challenge for us is to have our minds continually being renewed so that we increasingly “think God’s thoughts after him.” As this process takes place by his grace and through his Word, our desires, priorities and affections will increasingly be transformed and shaped by God and his promises. Make no mistake; this is an arduous process that will not be completed in this life. It demands our absolute devotion and commitment, but that is but the proper response to his grace that has bestowed us such great and precious promises.