Action Call

“Therefore, get your minds ready for action, being self-disciplined, and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13)

Peter says that on the basis of our salvation and hope we are to get our minds ready for action, practice self-discipline with regard to lifestyle, and stay focused on God’s grace until the time of our full redemption comes. He translates this into several facets of significance.

First, we are to practice holy living. “Holy” means to be set apart as special, to not be ordinary. The idea is to live our lives in ways that bring honor to Christ, and to stay away from behaviors that would not honor Him. This is not a call to perfection but to practice.

Second, we are to not revert to a previous way of life lived before the time we were redeemed. We were redeemed from an empty way of life, and we have now inherited a life that is imperishable. Yet, we still are tempted to revert to that life, probably because it was natural to us and required no self-discipline. Peter is calling for resistance to the temptation to revert.

Third, we are to practice obedience to the truth. The practice of God’s truth purifies the heart, and, further, it expresses a pure heart, one made pure by this new birth that was given to us. God’s truth has an enduring quality, and it helps us to thus endure. A life that follows the way of the flesh cannot endure because flesh cannot endure, but truth is eternal. Following truth is living according to the eternal.

Lord, Help us today to be ready for the action of living in ways that demonstrate our salvation and our hope in You. Amen.