The End is Near Part 2
October 8, 2010 § 2 Comments
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“The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded…” 1 Peter 4:7
You can check out part one of this post here.
Since the end of all things is near – near in God’s sense of time, not ours – Peter gives us instructions. There first instruction is to be clear minded. Honestly that is one of the hardest things for me to be. Clear minded. He is not telling you to clear your mind of all thought. Instead he is telling us to be sensible, use discretion, be sane. We are living in the end times. I see so much around me that distracts me. I can hardly remember to give my children allergy medicine in the morning without be distracted by dishes, lunches, my meal, etc. My mind is often not clear and the clutter keeps me from being sane and discerning. We are distracted by – things, people, ministry, etc. The bottom line is that there are lots of good things we can focus on and do, but if we are about the best things, the things God has for us to do, then we are no longer distracted. We are not clear minded.
Do you know why Peter tells us to be clear minded? He says at the end of 1 Peter 4:7, “…so that you can pray.”
We are so distracted that we cannot pray.
We are distracted by national politics, world politics, getting the next promotion, making sure our kids get the education they need, the lady who cut us off on the way to work, our boss who isn’t making wise choices, our money or lack of it, how clean or organized our houses are…Some of these things are good things to keep in mind. We are to manage some of these things, be knowledgeable about them, pray about them, but they can become all-consuming. Some of these things we need to just let go and move on. We have to find the things God has for us to be about. Otherwise we will be distracted and we will not be able to pray…
Father thank You that You are in control of the last times. Thank You that we can trust You to work out Your perfect will among the chaos of sin. Forgive us for being distracted by things that are not You. Help us to be clear minded in You. So that we can pray. In Jesus’ Name we pray Amen.
What are you distracted by? Let’s lay them down at Jesus’ feet, so we can pray.
Rethinking My Thinking 
I take comfort in the fact that Peter has to tell us to be clear minded implying that most of us struggle with this and have to make a conscience effort. A good reminder to not allow the chaos to take over our minds.
That is true. It means that we all get distracted. I just pray that I don’t stay distracted. 🙂