When men had to go into battle they had to gather up the material and tuck it into a belt in order to give them freedom of mobility.
We are in battle
Our thoughts need to be gathered up and tucked into our belts to give us the freedom of mobility to fight the battle
Ephesians 6:14 – Gird our waists with the truth
Our minds need to be gathered up and tucked into God’s truth; that is our thoughts need to be brought into submission to the Word and the Spirit
2 Corinthians 10:4-6
Again we are reminded that God has given us the weapons and the tools to bring our thoughts under control.
It’s up to us to pick up and use the weapons he’s provided for us
Meditate on the good things of God – His Word
Philippians 4:8
Joshua 1:8
Bring our concerns before Him – Philippians 4:6-7
Much of the chaos that invades our minds comes from the anxieties, stresses and pressures of life that go on around us.
When we give these over to God and trust Him, it’s pulling together more of the loose ends of our thought lives and tucking them into His truth
Proverbs 3:5-6
Don’t lean on our own understanding. Trust in the Lord.
Be sober
To be calm and collected in Spirit
In the physical sense, being sober means to not consume anything in excess that would inebriate us.
Inebriation dulls our senses
We need to refrain from an excess of things that dull our spiritual senses
This isn’t limited to sinful things either – even seemingly harmless things can dull our senses if taken in excess.
Colossians 3:1-3
“As heaven and earth are contrary one to the other, both cannot be followed together; and affection to the one will weaken and abate affection to the other.” – Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
When we allow our minds to be caught up in the things of this world instead of the things above it dulls our sensitivities to the Holy Spirit
Rest your hope fully upon the grace
See the preceding passage – v 3-12
We have an incorruptible inheritance that will never fade away
We are kept by the power of God
Even though we are grieved by trials, it is to show our faith and to glorify God
It’s not suffering through a trial that brings the glory
It’s persisting on to victory that brings the glory
Bringing discipline to our minds and submitting our thoughts to God’s truth is the foundation for our spiritual success
