Free Bible Commentary
“First Peter 1:13-16”
Categories: First Peter“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. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
---End of Scripture verses---
Of all people, God’s children are the most privileged and blessed. We have “been born again to a living hope” (verse 3); we have an inheritance waiting for us in heaven that will not perish or fade away (verse 4); and God promises us His providence and protection while living here on earth (verse 5). But with tremendous blessings comes great responsibility. The life of a faithful child of God is not one of leisure and luxury but one of preparation and “action”. We have been called by God to live lives of effort, obedience and holiness.
The imagery of verse 13 is lost in the NASB phrase, “prepare your minds for action.” The KJV more accurately says “gird up the loins of your mind.” Ancient peoples in arid climates of the East wore loose, flowing garments for comfort and protection from the wind and heat. But when it was time for work or rapid movement, those garments needed to be “girded up,” or wrapped tightly around the body. Christianity is a call to action. We must be ever prepared to flee from sin and fly to the aid of a needy or ailing brother. We must prepare our minds in advance for the spiritual battles that are waged against us and for every holy exploit that the Lord calls us to undertake.
One of the reasons that we stumble so often and become discouraged so easily is that we do not “fix” our “hope completely on the grace” that Christ will bring us at His revelation. When Christ returns He will transform our weak and feeble frames into the likeness of His perfect, glorified body (Philippians 3:21), and we will share in His glory for all eternity (verse 7). If we can learn to keep single-minded focus on our eternal inheritance, we will be less likely to revert to “to the former lusts which were” ours in our “ignorance” (verse 14). When people sin out of ignorance, it is not excusable but it is at least understandable. But when those of us who know better continue to fall into the same old traps of the flesh, it’s just indefensible.
More preparation! More focus! More discipline! More maturity!
Please read 1 Peter 1:17-21 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
-Louie Taylor
