Active Service

Today's Reading: Psalm 76; Isaiah 37:14-20; & 1 Peter 1

Scripture:

"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

Observation:

The context of the verse is incredible. The early church suffered much. The choice to follow after the teachings of Jesus meant immediate ridicule, rejection and reproach. There was nothing of earthly value gained. When Peter wrote this letter, Nero was just beginning his reign. The times ahead of the church were about to get worse than they could imagine. In a short period of time many of the ones reading this letter would experience torment beyond anything seen before.

The Holy Spirit was using Peter to prepare the people for what was to come and did so by giving them three core commands to cling to: 1) Prepare for action. 2) Keep sober in spirit. 3) Hope only in the blessings to come.

Application:

The first call is to prepare for action. No believer is called into the reserves. We are all front-liners in a spiritual battle. I forget that sometimes. As my awareness of this call fades it becomes easy to slip into complacency. As complacency descends upon me I become nonchalant in seeking after God. I have to mentally prepare myself to stay on edge and be ready to respond to God's movement.

The second call is to be sober in spirit. The call here is for steadiness of mind and self-control under stress. It is the whole under stress part that gets me. My world is not one that readily accepts prolonged periods of stress. As inconveniences are stretched over periods of time I can lose my composure and in the blink of an eye I come unglued. I have to stay steady and rational in the face of adversity.

The final call is to hope only in the blessings that are to come. This is the part of the verse that I do not like to hear. If the word said to put my hope in the successful outcome of me receiving everything I wanted then I would be all over this verse. What Paul is reminding me of though is that there is nothing of this Earth that belongs to me. My life and all that I have is in the true Kingdom that follows this one. What ever I do without in this life is petty compared to the riches that are to come.

Prayer:
Father,

My desire today is to walk in obedience to Your Word. My struggle today is that my flesh wants none of it. It is like there is a battle raging in my mind, heart, and spirit today. I ask that you move as only You can.

Settle my mind. I have so many questions. So many insecurities. Hurts, habits, and hang-ups all reside in the memories of my mind and make it hard for me to move forward.

Sober my spirit. Nothing is more sobering than the truth. I ask that every deceptive thought be brought to light. Help me to know that there is no way around discomfort in this life. Help me to hold steady as I face the call you have on my life.

Fix my hope on You. There is much the world has to offer in terms of hope. There are real, tangible things that jump around every corner and attempt to steal away my hope. I pray to You this morning, begging that You bring to full life the hope I have in the blessings You have poured out on me through Jesus.