“. . . gird up the loins of your mind” (1 Pet. 1:13 KJV).
The power of concentration is the God-given ability to focus on Christ. He has the power by His Spirit to mold us into the image He reveals of Himself. Concentration is vital to our seeing Jesus as He truly is and then consecrating ourselves to becoming like Him. To concentrate is to meditate, and meditating is part of the formula for spiritual success (Josh. 1: 8; Ps. 1: 3; 1 Tim.4: 15). To concentrate is to bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10: 5).
To “gird up the loins of your mind” means to get rid of loose, frivolous, foolish, and wandering thoughts that distract us so we can concentrate on Christ and the Christian race.
Our power of concentration can be compared to pearl divers and the time they can hold their breath under water. How long they can hold their breath determines the number of pearls they gather and are enriched thereby. The time that a Christian can meditate on Scripture by concentrating their thoughts will determine whether they will get beyond the milk of the Word and reach the meat of the Word, and to its deeper meaning (Josh.1:8; Ps.1:2) and be enriched thereby.
Any teacher, regardless of how good they are, can not teach a student that will not give them their undivided attention and concentrate on the subject that’s being taught.
The Holy Spirit is the greatest teacher there is, but He can not teach the Christian that can not concentrate; that can not pay attention to Him as He’s teaching. We can not learn and grow spiritually until we learn to concentrate.
Seriousness precedes spirituality. God has nothing to say to a frivolous man. We are not serious about our spiritual growth until we get rid of every distraction that keeps us from concentrating on the things of God.
Satan knows if he can keep us from concentrating on Christ by distracting us with worldly things, he can keep us from learning and growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. If he can keep us to where we have an attention deficit and a short attention span, we will remain weak spiritually and shallow in our faith. The TV is the greatest distraction.
Most people think by default. That means they follow the way others think and have the herd mentality. Others have, through the use of words, planted their thoughts into their minds. Without examining these thoughts to see if they are true, they follow them along with so many others. But when we study Scripture and concentrate on it, we form our own individual thoughts. The Holy Spirit will not do our thinking for us but when we begin to think and focus on the things of God, the Spirit will help us by guiding and directing our thinking so we can have holy and insightful thoughts.
Our power of concentration determines our power of consecration. Our consecration to Christ will only last as long as our concentration on Him.
Concentration is our responsibility, not God’s. We must remove those distractions that keep us from gathering our thoughts and seeking after God and those things that will matter two seconds on the other side of eternity.
Only Him
If Jesus should call me to valleys dark,
To go and share the Gospel Light,
Would I descend the mountain height,
And serve Him there in darkest night?
♢
Would I leave my flower strewn path
To go Calvary’s rugged way?
Forsake all my family and friends,
With Jesus Christ as my only stay?
♢
How far, to please Him, would I go,
And fulfill His holy desire?
Would I vow and surrender my all
And do whatever He requires?
♢
Would I leave and never stop to think,
What other men might say?
Knowing that He who called me out,
Will walk beside me ev’ry day.
♢
Would I demand before I leave
To know just where and how?
Or will I answer Love’s pulling tide
And go to Him right now?
♢
Will I say, “Let another go,
And I will help them on their way.”
When I know God called me to go,
And promised to help me on my way?
♢
Oh wavering soul, oh faithless heart,
Oh, why not have this thought? —
Why should I be as the changing wind,
But never as I ought?
♢
To linger behind and pine away,
And never go with Him;
Beyond my sight, beyond what I feel,
And there know only Him
