We must be prepared to do work without hindrance. Our minds are prone to being loose and entangled, and require tightening up before work is to be done.
In addition to preparing for work, we must also continually keep sober in spirit. We can do this by keeping God’s truth in our minds, meditating on it, growing in understanding of it, and practicing them in life by faith.
Believers ought to have a ready mind.
If we compromise our mind, we lose our most important tool in life.
How can we continually keep sober in spirit and ready in mind?
Remain in the Word of God - read it in worship and in faith, listen to preaching, meditate on it, practice it.
Remain in prayer - genuinely seek the Lord; don’t merely fall into a habit of meaningless repetition or routine. Pray biblical prayers!
Maintain proper eschatology. Remembering that Christ will return at any time can keep us alert and ready to live with alertness.
If we find ourselves being carried away by other things, we must return back to reality by recalling biblical truths that can wake us up from stupor or distraction. We don’t have to do this all by ourselves! We can call on each other as brothers and sisters for encouragement and reminders from the Word.
Fix your hope on future grace.
We often anticipate things that end up framing our lives and actions, such as various worries, financial milestones, material purchases, iterations of entertainment, or goals we’ve set for ourselves.
Subjugate all anticipation in our lives under the anticipation of future grace. This is not to say that we are not thankful for what God gives us in this life, but we ought to place our great hope and anticipation on what God has promised for us in the future. Things in this life are perishable and fading, but the promise of future grace in eternity is permanent and lasting.
As believers, we will receive a great amount of favor when Christ is revealed - glorification!