I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 3rd of January, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start with 1 Peter 1:13:

"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Gird up the loins of your mind! We must understand we are on a critical journey; our destination is heaven, but there is a long road for us to walk. The other night, I watched a television programme about the Tuareg people (I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly) of the Sahara Desert. They say that the Sahara Desert is their country, hardy people

 that operate on camels. Every year, they prepare for a journey of about 1,000 km through the most treacherous terrain on earth. They go to buy salt from a specific place where it is quarried. 

Hundreds of camels go with these people, but what fascinated me was their preparation before they set out on their journey. They sew up goat skins where they put water so no drop escapes. They dry out dates and take millet to eat a gruel on this journey. They have one very experienced man who takes them through the desert, which goes week after week through dunes with no sign of any directions. That man is the son of a man who did it before him and him before his father. 

They prepared correctly. They girded up their loins for the journey and made it every time. They don't stop, whether there's a sandstorm and they can't see one yard ahead - They keep going. They're experienced, seasoned men. I was amazed at their concentration, their discipline and the hope that they had for their destination.

Now, as followers of Jesus Christ, you and I need to do the same as we start 2024. We need to gird up our loins, be sober and rest in the hope of Jesus Christ. Remember, the writer is saying gird up the loins of your mind - it's the mind, my dear friends, that we need to protect to get to our destination, heaven, and meet with the Lord. 

Have a wonderful day as you start to prepare for the remainder of this journey that you are taking, on this earth. Goodbye.