"Therefore 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
Most of us tend to forget that we, as Christians, are in a war zone -- fighting a very real battle. For the most part, our lives are pretty easy as believers. We haven't been thrown in prison for our faith. Our church buildings have not been invaded by armed police. We haven't lost our jobs because we are Christians. The grocery store will still take our cash and our checks. We aren't thrown out of our homes to live in the street. Life is pretty good!
Peter reminds us that we are enlisted in a mighty army. He warns us that we need to be in a state of readiness, prepared for battle. We need a constant "mind awareness" that we could be called into action at any moment. We must keep focused upon Jesus and the duties at hand.
This means that we have an absolute mandate to not let the world and it's affairs distract us from our mission in life -- to be good and faithful servants of the Lord, Jesus Christ. It is too easy to come home from a hard day at work and "unwind" in front of the TV. We often don't feel the "need" to attend services every time the door is open. (Services are part of the war training that we must have to be ready to fight spiritual battles.) Prayer is something that we do on a "when the need arises" basis -- my need, that is, not yours.
I suspect that Peter would cringe at our state of readiness -- or lack thereof. His life literally depended upon and was consumed by his need to serve Jesus as a willing "slave." I doubt that he would understand all of our "needs." Rather he would shake his head in wonder at all of the "things" that so easily distract us -- then prepare a special "tactical drill" that would show us our weakness!
Amen and Amen.
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