Therefore, preparing your mind 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.
- 1 Peter 1:13
NOTE: This is part 2 of two-part devotional. You can read the first part here.
In January of 2023, my mother and I took my daughters to Disney World for a two-day trip. It was a surprise trip that we had been planning for months. We had all our reservations booked, I had the Disney map app planned out, I knew which rides we were going to prioritize, and where their favorite princesses and characters tended to be. I had matching outfits for us and cute, casual princess outfits for them. This was their first time to Disney, and they were the perfect ages for it. I was so excited for them and for me to experience it through their eyes.
But on the flight down, I developed the stomach bug…throwing up on a plane is truly no fun. And much to my sadness, they got the same 12-hour bug the very next day – our Magic Kingdom Day. They tried to make it through, but only lasted until noon. I was incredibly disappointed and sad that this happened. I had hoped that the girls would meet princess. I had hoped that they would love the iconic rides of Peter Pan’s Flight and Under the Sea (Little Mermaid). I had hoped that we would see the breath-taking fireworks show.
We all have those things for which we are hopeful: maybe it’s a new home, a baby, a job, health, or a personal goal. While being hopeful that the said thing(s) will come to fruition or will be successful is not a bad thing, it should not be the thing that we place our hope on. For those hopes can and should be understood as a desire for a particular outcome about which we cannot be sure. I could not be sure that Disney would go well, but I was sure hopeful that it would. If I am to place my hope on a particular job or my profession, or on my health, or family — what happens when it falls apart? But there is a hope that we can be certain of, a hope that is guaranteed.
I truly appreciate the linear thought pattern of Peter in this verse (1:13). He begins it with a therefore – which means, he is asking believers to recall all that he just detailed for them previously and root themselves there. A quick glance to the passage just before this, we learn that Peter is referring to the great salvation blessings (gifts) that believers have namely: a new birth, a living hope, a future inheritance, and inexpressible joy.
Next, Peter encourages believers to have a mind that is thinking rightly, clearly, and alertly, rooted in one’s deep assurance of their salvation blessings – all of which were given graciously to them by God the Father through the death and resurrection of Jesus and the working of the Holy Spirit. He is reminding us that we cannot allow our minds to get lazy in our thinking about those blessings or intoxicated with the things of this world (like money, power, influence, you name it) for those things will distract us and undo us. Rather, we must think soberly and gratefully on what God has done, is doing, and will do.
Finally, Peter ends this verse with where our hope – which is defined by an assured expectation of what will happen (unlike the other wishful hope) is anchored. He calls believers to set their hope fully on what’s coming; and what’s coming is Jesus’s return. And when He returns believers will receive grace – and this grace is a gift from God Himself. While we don’t know fully what that grace will be like, I do think it will be lavish for we will be heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17).
Peter calls us to put our hope fully there because, unlike the things of this world, it’s everlasting and guaranteed, and it is so because it comes from the hands of our faithful, trustworthy, omnipotent, and gracious God. This unwavering, anchored hope that we have – it finds its beginnings in our blessings of salvation, and it’s end in the grace that will be given to us when Jesus returns.
Prayer: Father, thank you for the promise that Jesus will return. By your grace, help me to think clearly, alertly, and soberly about what you have done, are doing, and will do. Give me the strength to set my hope fully on what is promised and not in the things of this world. Amen.
Reflection:
- Identify one area of your life where you need to think clearly, rightly, gratefully about what either God has done, is doing, or will do.
- What in this world do you tend to set your hope on? Identify ways that the said thing could fall apart. Then, contrast that hope to our unwavering future hope.
- Take time to read Ephesians 1:3-10 and reflect on God’s grace that is extended to you.
