To-Do List

I Peter 1:13: “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” (NASB).

After sharing that prophets strained toward the grace believers now have free access to through the blood of Christ and that angels long to better understand this grace (vs. 12), Peter captures the essential elements of a life lived in and for Christ in this seemingly simple list:

1.                    “Prepare your minds for action.” This is an active interaction between the Trinity and the believer studying the Word of God, and this exhortation is found elsewhere in NT scripture. II Timothy 3:16-17 tells the believer, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” In the previous chapter, I Timothy 2:15 urges believers to “be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” We have been given much (grace and faith and salvation) and should without fail want to delve into the mysteries of it that God has placed at our fingertips. Furthermore, the technology of today leaves us without any excuse. (I write this as I realize I am sitting with my Bible reference open on my Nook, my NASB version Bible app open on my iPad, and the Internet open and easily accessed as I type on my laptop in the comfort of my air-conditioned home free from worry of persecution…)

2.                    “Keep sober in spirit.” This one is interesting. As I studied some background, John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible for this verse mentioned the obvious connections with staying literally sober (not being drunk with wine, as many in the pagan cultures were accustomed to) and not eating too much, either of which detracts from our ability to be ready and attentive to what God requires of us. Gill continued in a profound statement about  

“being inebriated with the cares of this life, which choke the word, and make it unfruitful, and lead men into temptation, and many foolish and hurtful lusts, and from the faith of Christ; and likewise to a being intoxicated with errors, and false doctrine, which lull men asleep, and render them incapable of serving Christ and his church; and turn their heads from faith to fables, and are contrary to the words of truth and soberness.” He makes the point that to be sober goes beyond the obvious context of not eating or drinking too much, but also to be “disengaged from the anxious cares of the world.”

(I would encourage anyone who has access to Gill’s  

commentary to read this whole section, as it holds many more

gems than I can fit in this space.)

3.                    “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” This part of the verse offers the fuel that keeps us going when everything else collapses. IF we are fixed on him and all our hope is in him and the grace he offers both now at our salvation and later when he returns and throws open the gates of heaven for us to dwell with him eternally, THEN we can continue to operate in the manner that delights him. We can carry out the Great Commission Jesus left us in Matthew 28:19-20 to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” IF we are fixed fully on him and his grace, THEN we have his strength instead of our feeble faults.

There is so much I struggle to understand in the Word that when I find something that I can take action on with no gray areas, I simply delight in it—it resonates with me. Don’t get me wrong—I love mine the Scripture for gems and ask God to open the Word so that I can understand it—but I  also love the simplicity of the One who made me and knows that sometimes I just need a to-do list!