Gird Up Our Minds

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; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."  I Peter 1:13-16

I've been listening to the 2009 Ligonier Conference CDs on the holiness of God, and the above passage was used by Derek Thomas as he addressed our need for sanctification, our growth in holy living.  It seems we often have a tendency to assess our personal holiness with the "I don't drink or chew or go with girls/boys who do" mentality.  We want to focus on our outward behavior.  While it is important that our conduct bears testimony to the indwelling Holy Spirit, this passage instructs us to gird up the loins of our minds, a reference to the ancient practice of gathering up one's robe when moving rapidly.  It is metaphorical to "pulling up" all the lose ends of one's thinking by rejecting the lusts of the world and focusing on the grace of our salvation in Jesus Christ.  Derek Thomas quoted John Stott with this statement:  "The major secret of holy living lies in the mind."  Thinking biblically is key to our holy living, so we must allow the Word of God to do its sanctifying work in our minds.  Paul instructs us in Romans 12:2 to be transformed by the renewing of our minds that we may prove what is the perfect will of God.  

Derek went on to explain how he was challenged by reading John Owen on holiness.  Owen wrote that a true indicator of our spiritual mindedness is the default setting, so to speak, of our mind, i.e. what do we think about when we're not thinking about anything in particular?  Is our mind's "free time" filled with things the Lord would consider true, noble, lovely, and honoring to the Lord?  Are we in prayer for others or praising Him for His goodness?  Are we spending those moments preaching the gospel to ourselves?  Are we quietly resting in His will for our lives?