Praise God for a Living Hope

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

What (therefore...) has been said in the previous verses is awesome and lays the foundation for this part of the letter. God is magnificent, gracious, forgiving and loving.

Three things we must do because of what God has done for us.
1. “prepare your minds for action” – our minds matter, when we become believers we don’t say goodbye to thinking, to reason, to intellect. We have minds that can discuss, debate, argue and learn new things. Because God has fashioned our minds they can be redeemed, changed and used for the glory of God. The mind is crucial to how we live; action is preceded by thinking, if we think about something long enough we will be more likely to follow our thoughts with actions. Therefore “... the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man" (Matt. 15:18-20).
Our minds are not just vessels for thinking but for action. Philosophy is interesting and helps us develop ideas but if it doesn’t transform into actions then it becomes idol daydreaming. Just as our minds can lead us into wrong actions so they can lead us onto ‘good’ actions. Things that benefit our neighbour, honour God and build us up in our faith.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

2. “be self-controlled” – this is a phrase that society seems to have an aversion too. The teaching of our age is to “be happy”; to do what you want as long as it doesn’t hurt someone! The sports person who erupts into anger or violence on the field is considered justified or is applauded. Our young people are regularly loosing control on the streets with ‘binge drinking’.

We believe that happiness is the ultimate aim in life. So if over eating makes me feel happy then why should I stop. Sleeping with many different partners satisfies my sexual desires, then why not. Spending money on luxury items is okay because I have lots of money and it makes me feel good. No self-control is linked to individualism, if all we concentrate on is ourselves then the need to satisfy our desires, cravings or wants become a high priority in our lives.

What is the danger of no self-control?
1. We become lazy; “ So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.” (1 Thess 5:6). We can fail to see the dangers our over indulgence is creating for us. We can neglect to look after our physical and spiritual health allowing compromise to creep in. Laziness leads to inactivity which leads to a blindness to the needs of others.
2. We become self-centred; when you have no or little self-control we can end up seeing everything as revolving around us. We can become like those who ‘crossed over to the other side’ in the ‘Good Samaritan’ story. The world stops at our front door, the needs of others pale when compared to ours. If something or one doesn’t satisfy our wants or desires then we dispose of them, change them for something better.
3. We take the now instead of the better; we are satisfied with the ‘plate of porridge’ over our ‘birth-right’ (Genesis 27:35-37). Sexual satisfaction over marital fidelity. The sweet taste over good health. Anger over love. Take a look at the following:
(http://nudges.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/do-you-have-more-self-control-now-than-when-you-were-young/)

3. “set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed” “We rejoice in hope of the glory of God, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”(Rom 5)
This is because our future hope is based on something that has already happened in the past, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord!
Commentator William Barclay wrote, “The Christian hope is the hope which has seen everything and endured everything, and has still not despaired, because it believes in God. The Christian hope is not hope in the human spirit, in human goodness, in human endurance, in human achievement; the Christian hope is hope in the power of God.” That is what living a life of hope is!

It is also about being focused; focused on Jesus, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:2.)
Thornton Wilder once wrote, "Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is nothing if it is not ridiculous." As believers, our hope, which rests in the Lord Jesus Christ, should be courageous and ridiculous. “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?”(1 Thess. 2:19).

Basically these verses are telling us that we need to respond to what God has done for us. Our lifestyle should be changed starting with our minds, and affected by the Hope within us. My hope in God is to see those I know become followers of Jesus.