regardless of all my failed attempts, it's something that i always WANT to do, and by God's grace, will improve at over the course of my life.
currently i'm memorizing 1 peter. i breezed through 1 peter chapter 1, because i memorized that passage in the summer of 2010, walking back and forth from pine cove woods, where i slept, to the pine cove main office, where i worked for 11 weeks. i chose that passage because it corresponded with the staff bible study that i attended every wednesday night. it takes a lot of diligence to memorize scripture for me, so that summer i decided to dedicate all my walking time to scripture alone. it wasn't the first time i've tried that tactic, and it's always been a blessing. the summer i studied abroad in spain i dedicated all my walking (30 minutes to and from class, 45 minutes to and from the beach) to prayer. not planning, not music, strictly prayer. and that summer i learned so much about the power of persistent prayer.
anyway, i'm memorizing 1 peter. at this point, i'm not sure if i'll do the whole book or just parts of it, i guess we'll see. but today when i was going through chapter 1, verse 13 caught my attention.
"therefore, PREPARING YOUR MINDS FOR ACTION, and being sober minded, SET YOUR HOPE FULLY ON THE GRACE that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
preparing your minds for action. what does that even mean?
God reached down his hand into my life and saved me for a PURPOSE, not just so that i alone would be His. we are called, as His people, to be on mission. we are called to ACTION. to be proclaiming the good news that Jesus has come to REDEEM us. he has paid the price for our sins with his blood so that we don't have to pay for it with an eternity in a very real place called hell. at salvation, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, which enables us to live out this purpose, to know and understand God, and to become more obedient to him.
this includes furthering his mission, of which we are a part. the mission isn't solely to save tracey. the mission is to defeat satan, with the ultimate purpose that God would receive the glory due to him. and i just happen to GET to be a part of that, by being on mission in my community, whether that is with my roommates, my church, the impoverished neighborhoods 10 miles away, or the ends of the earth. in the mars hill kids ministry we talk about how God is on a rescue mission, and Jesus is our rescuer. our response to this epic rescue is an overflow of thanksgiving, and an eager desire to tell everyone. (at least that is the appropriate response, apart from the fact that we still are fleshly beings with sinful tendencies who mess up and get distracted from our purpose ALL THE TIME.)
as such, it is important to be equipped. ultimately, God has given us all we need for life and godliness (2 peter 1:3), and that is important to know. memorizing scripture doesn't get us into heaven or fulfill our purpose, neither does going to church or reading books. what these things DO do, however, is help us stand ready to speak truth and love others. they help us live out our mission in an effective way, so that ultimately more people can know truth, and God can be more glorified.
and this is where preparing our minds comes in. fill them with scripture. talk about how God has been faithful and good. pray. "set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." fight for those things that are of eternal value.
because in that, there is true purpose.
love,
tracey
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