Battle plans

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 Peter 1.13

There was an old anti-drug abuse ad in the States that ended with the slogan ‘a mind is a terrible thing to waste.’ We all know how important our minds are. We all know the mind is where the great spiritual battles are fought. We also know that it is too easy to waste our minds on foolish and wasteful things. 

I’ve read a couple of writers who deal with our minds as a battlefield. I like to liken it to a sporting arena. Either was there is a battle or a contest going on in the arena of the mind. If we aren’t careful we can lose the contest before we even realise the contest is on. 

Before a sporting event the sides have to get ready. You always have to prepare and warm up and put on the right kit. You have to train – and the more and harder you train the better prepared you are. 

As we face this wicked old broken world we need to be ready. We must have our minds kitted out. We need to set our minds on things above, not things that we see. 

‘Gird up the loins of your mind’ James writes. As warriors of the day prepared for battle then would take the edge of their robes and cinch them up in a belt to assure they had the mobility for battle. They were prepared and ready to go. 

We get as ready as we can, we realise the seriousness of the fight, and then, most importantly, we put our hope in the grace of God. 

Prepare our minds, study the enemy, then go forth reliant on the grace of God