Gird Up the Loins of Your Mind

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1 Peter 1:13 (Margin) Holman Christian Standard Bible

¹³  Therefore, when you have the loins of your mind girded ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

Our church has started a plan this year of reading the whole Old Testament in one year. I encourage you to adopt it. I encourage you to discover YouVersion.com for yourself. I first tried it several years ago, and it had so many features that I finally gave up in disgust. Judson Nelson, my brother-in-law, helped get back on it in a meaningful way a year ago. Thanks. Jud!

However, install it on your phone and sign into it. It has well over a hundred different versions of the Bible The second language I learned as a kid (English was my mother-tongue) was Afrikaans. At one point in my life, I learned the Lord’s prayer in Afrikaans. At the end of its Sabbath worship service, the church urges all its members to pray the prayer out loud together, “In any language that you wish.” So, I started praying it in Afrikaans. Well, after 60 plus years, I didn’t trust my memory. I checked out YouVersion.com, and after some experimentation, I found at least five different translation versions of the Afrikaans Bible! I have no clue how many English versions it has, but there are many.

As you open YouVersion, it gives you the verse of the day. At the bottom are several icons representing various popular features, one of which is “plans.” Click on that one. Click on the button “Find Plans”. One of the plans is “Bible Projects | Old Testament in a Year.” If you start today, you have only thirty-six sessions to catch up.

This morning, we read Genesis 12-14. It starts the story of Abraham. In chapter 14 Lot is captured by a Persian invading army and carted off with his wife and children towards Persia. In Abram’s entourage, he has 318 trained soldiers. Together with his allies they spring a night surprise attack, and he defeats the reveling invaders and recaptures all of their loot including the people they were taking back to sell as slaves in Persia.

What never ceases to amaze me is the size of Abram’s household. If he has 318 troops, he must have had well over a thousand people, including wives and children, etc. In other words, this was no lonely Bedouin camp with a dozen or so people camping out in the desert. He also had his troops ready for action so they could set out at a moment’s notice.

Our verse encourages us to have girded up the loins of our minds, ready for immediate action—in other words, be ready to fight to retain the grace we have been so graciously given. God has freely given us a vast store of His grace. Let us be ready to defend it at all costs until He comes.

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Midnight Answer

 

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Psalm 84:12 Contemporary English Version

¹² Lord God All-Powerful, you bless everyone, who trusts you.

 

Two Canadian students, Sarah and Nolan, told me they wanted to write a historical novel about my mother. Intrigued, I consulted with them over a period of three months or so last year. This summer when Sylvia and I drove east on vacation, I decided I’d like to meet them while we were out there. They both seemed excited by the prospect. While back in Michigan, I tried to set up a time to see them. Over a period of a week or more, I got more and more frustrated because I couldn’t work something out for the convenience of the three of us. I found it impossible to get hold of Nolan by phone. I was discouraged beyond measure.

On Saturday evening, June 22, we were at Sylvia’s cousin’s home in Oswego, Illinois. After walking their dog Munchkin around the block, we retired to our room. We chatted about what we should do next, wondering seriously if the Lord didn’t want us to see them and decided to lay out a fleece. At 8:12 p.m. CDT, I sent Nolan a text: “Nolan, as you know we are planning to be in Canada soon, and we would love to see you. Please call me on WhatsApp or regular cell phone or text me so we can finish laying our plans.”

We decided that if he didn’t call or text, we would know the Lord didn’t want us to stop and see them. We went to bed and to sleep. At 12:45 a.m. CDT, my phone jarred me awake. It was Nolan. We chatted for 18 minutes. During the conversation I asked him to arrange for a meeting with him and Sarah, together or separately. I would arrange my trip to be there at the time or times he arranged.

Relief and peace flooded me. I lay back on the bed and laughed for the next 20 minutes while Sylvia slept the sleep of the just. My mind went through the experience of Abraham and Sarah, when they laughed at the news that they were going to have a baby boy—Abraham 100 years old and Sarah 90! I laughed because of God, who doesn’t sleep, arranged the call so quickly and in the middle of the night.

 

Remember the events? In Genesis 17 God tells Abram he is going to have a son through Sarai and changes both of their names. “Abraham bowed with his face to the ground and thought, ‘I am almost 100 years old. How can I become a father? And Sarah is 90. How can she have a child?’ So he started laughing” (Genesis 17:17 GNT).

Then in Genesis 18, God visits Abraham’s camp on His way to Sodom, and again He announces that the couple will have a son. Sarah is inside the tent listening to the conversation. “So, Sarah laughed to herself and said, ‘Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too.’

“Then the Lord asked Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Can I really have a child when I am so old?”’…

“Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. ‘I didn't laugh,’ she said.

“‘Yes, you did,’ He replied. ‘You laughed.’”  (Genesis 18: 12-15 GNT)

The encounter impressed them so much they named their son Isaac, which is Hebrew for “He will laugh!”

 

We all agreed to meet at the St. Thomas SDA Church On June 29, 2024. This was also the church’s 125^th anniversary celebration, so it was crowded. We not only had the privilege of meeting Nolan, a third-year student at university, and his family—parents, and sister—but also Sarah and family—parents, two sisters and four brothers. Sarah narrated a video history of the St. Thomas Church. We gained a rich blessing from the faith of both families. Now we look forward to reading their book.

 

Dear Lord, thank You for Your personal intervention in our affairs when we need Your wisdom!

 

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