MIND OVER MATTERS
by Peter MastersFROM SWORD & TROWEL 2006 No 2
Managing and directing daily thinking
‘Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind’ (1 Peter 1.13).
In 1 Peter 1 we are commanded to live as strangers and
pilgrims in this world, a style of living which is totally contrary to the pull of the ‘flesh’.
The tendency of the old nature is to want to settle down, surrender to worldly
attachments, and be accepted rather than misunderstood and possibly scorned. To
make matters worse there is the activity of the devil, the enemy of souls, ever trying to
push us into the world’s mould. He aims to make the allurements of the world,
luxurious possessions, pleasures and so forth impossible for us to resist.
It is no use our imagining that because we love the Lord and seek some
avenue of Christian service, we will automatically be kept from re-absorption into the
world. Our protection is not automatic, and constant vigilance must be maintained.
To help us take the right stand in resisting the cloying, clinging tendency
to settle down in this world, the apostle Peter issued a graphic exhortation which is
sometimes underestimated - ‘Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind.’ To
understand this challenge it is helpful to know that the Greek here translated ‘mind’
speaks of the mind in action, such as when thinking something through or reflecting,
meditating and planning.
The apostle’s exhortation could read: ‘Wherefore gird up the loins of
your active, functioning mind - your thinking.’
The NASB translates, ‘Therefore gird your minds for
action.’ The NIV tries, ‘Therefore prepare your minds for action,’ which is
a pity as it loses the illustrative language of flowing garments needing to be held in.
The business of thinking is the key to Peter’s exhortation - ‘Gird up the
loins of your thinking.’ This is more than just preparing the mind to
receive knowledge, for it includes the way we think about a whole range of matters.
In New Testament times they wore flowing, voluminous robes which
greatly impeded running or manual work, even presenting dangers to the wearer.
Girdings or belts were used to gather the folds together, and this provides the
illustration which Peter applies to the management of the believer’s thinking.
The thinking process contains many loose folds which are floppy and
voluminous, causing us to trip and fall. Whole regions of our thought-life may be time-
wasting or damaging in some way. We could be daydreaming or brooding on
unprofitable things and letting our imaginations run free with them. The apostle’s
illustration urges us to be more disciplined and to devote our reasoning faculty to the
Lord in a conscious, intelligently directed manner. This is a prime duty of believers.
God has given us intellects which are functioning or thinking all our
waking day, and we are to steward this faculty, taking it in hand and
directing it properly. We must guard it from roaming away into irrelevant issues and
taking us down side pathways; then we must stimulate it to plan and work for the Lord.
The exhortation to ‘gird up the loins of your thinking’ is
followed by another: ‘be sober’ meaning - ‘be vigilant; watchful.’ Peter is warning
believers that they are engaged in a warfare in which the devil is watching for every
opportunity to push them into temptation so that the world around steals all their
energy, drawing it off in any number of different directions.
To prevent this succeeding, the loose folds of relaxed, unfettered, undir
ected thinking must be taken in hand by our making an effort to anticipate how Satan
may tempt and take us away from spiritual usefulness. We should also consider the
various ways in which people around us may sap our time and vital spiritual energy.
We must be ready to watch our daydreams, both the usefulness of them and the time
they absorb. The apostle has all this in mind.
Do we go sublimely through the Christian life as though we had no enemies
to fear, no devil to resist, and no allurements of this world to reject? How then will we
think in the coming week?
The apostle provides the first item for our thinking agenda immediately
after the exhortation, urging us to ‘hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought
unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.’ How much time and thought do we give to
this supreme theme? How often do we look forward to the great day when our Saviour
shall be revealed? Do we instead allow all the hustle and bustle, even the froth and
nonsense, and all the lesser matters of life to sweep through our thoughts to the
exclusion of the most significant issues?
We are children of a great coming day and we should be working
towards it, rejoicing in it and thinking of it very much. If, however, we abandon our
‘thinking agenda’ to freewheeling, then we may be sure these great themes will seldom
feature.
The famous passage in Philippians 4.8 lists
the standards given by inspiration to Paul, standards which should be applied to all
our thinking, conversation and daydreams. By implication, these standards also
indicate those matters which should not take up any of our thinking time. Do we take
this counsel seriously, directing and pruning our thinking accordingly?
Do we take out of our thinking wild-goose-chase trains of thought
which are totally unprofitable, together with matters which will stain and besmirch
our souls? Do we let ourselves get into states and situations where we are thinking
gossip-ridden, unprofitable thoughts? Do we let ourselves get into the slough of self-
pity, giving hours of tortuous thought to establishing the unreasonableness of our
circumstances?
The apostle Peter calls us to put a definite control upon our thinking,
making sure that it is governed by the Word of God. We are not supposed to rush to
form our own conclusions and opinions, but to be keen to find what the attitude of a
Christian ought to be in the light of the teaching of Scripture.
Do we form instant judgements and opinions, or do we reflect and
consider carefully? Do we weigh carefully any arguments that stand against our
immediate opinions? Or do we trust every idea as soon as we get it, rushing impulsively
to carry it out and sweeping aside all cautions and doubts?
The activity of the mind must be particularly tightly controlled when it
comes to decision-making, topics of conversation, stewardship of time, Christian
service, establishing friendships, responsibility of parenthood, and the acquisition of
possessions.
Take the thinking through of important decisions. How do we approach
the acquiring of a home or car or major item of equipment? By what process do we
choose a career or job, or allocate time to leisure and recreation? Do we ask ourselves
what biblical principles bear on such decisions? Do we take time to identify the factors
in the weighing of pros and cons?
There is a tendency with some Christians to seek advice from other
people simply because it saves them from having to think for themselves.
Anyone who takes counsel from enough people soon discovers opposite
points of view, leaving him free to do whatever he wanted to do in the first place. Some
believers take a different path, selecting as advisors only those who will ‘rubber stamp’
their inclinations.
We are told in Scripture to take counsel seriously, and to pray for help as
we think the matter through, observing biblical standards and carefully weighing the
arguments for and against any course of action. Scripture urges us to discern our
‘hidden’ motives, and then to put first the cause and kingdom of the Saviour in
everything we do. To what extent do we gird up the loins of our thinking in our
decision-making?
Sometimes believers seem to take decisions on the basis of
novelty. ‘Oh, I would like that!’ they think, ‘I would like to do that! No one
else has anything quite like this!’ Novelty, the lust to be different, or simply for
pleasure, may all intrude into the decisions we take. Whether a proposed purchase or
activity is appropriate, expedient or consistent with our belief in a measure of self-
denial is sometimes hardly considered at all. Intelligent, spiritual thinking can be very
easily abandoned.
Whatever we aim to buy or whatever we intend to
do, we should be ready to ask - What if every believer in my fellowship
did the same? Would that cripple our stewardship? Would it become obviously ugly
or unseemly? Would there be a marked drop in committedness to the service of the
Lord?
The management of thinking is obviously vital to our daily exploration
of the Word of God, which should never amount to a quick read. Every day of his life
the believer looks forward to his encounter with the Lord in the Word, reading a
portion in anticipation of blessing, and looking for a doctrine, a view of God, an
encouragement, a challenge, and perhaps also a reproof.
We look to see if there is a duty set forth, for the church or for the
individual, and we meditate and contemplate glorious things. The Word of God comes
to life in our hands, and our souls are lifted up, but only if we bring to the Lord active,
eager, thinking minds.
In writing to Timothy, Paul uses a fascinating term to describe the
believer’s stewardship of the mind. He mentions the spirit ‘of a sound mind’, which
means soundness in judgement and wisdom (2 Timothy 1.7). ‘Great
men are not always wise,’ said Elihu, and we may add that brilliant minds are not
always sound. But Christian minds, however modestly rated in terms of cleverness,
should always be disciplined, safe and wise in judgement. What a priceless gift it is to
possess this by grace! May it be valued and employed always to the glory of the mighty
and glorious Saviour Who purchased such blessings for us.
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