We’re back!
After some heavenly vacation time, The Up Daily Devotional is back to your email inboxes, social media feeds, and podcast platforms five mornings a week.
There’s a book by Daniel J. Brown called The Boys in the Boat. It’s about Americans who went to the Berlin Olympics for rowing. I haven’t read it personally, but heard Mother Natalia speak about it recently.*
These Washington freshmen came up with a short mantra: M.I.B. The coxswain kept chanting it to them repeatedly as they raced. “M.I.B.! M.I.B.! M.I.B.!”
But what did it stand for? “Mind in boat.”
The acronym was all about focus. “His whole world must shrink down to the small space within the gunwales…” The rowers needed a singular focus on the task before them. They had to tune out the crowds, the other boats in the race, all other noises, and even the problems they may have been facing in their personal lives. In those moments, nothing else mattered.
M.I.B.
This is the first devotional in September. I’ve always considered September to be the real New Year’s. It’s when we set our priorities, habits and overall trajectory for the coming ten months.
Over time, it’s easy to get distracted…
-We get swept up with the wider culture, and neglect the deeper needs of the people whom God has put into our lives.
-We get so busy that we put prayer, Bible-reading and Sunday worship on the backburner.
-We start to form opinions based upon our fluctuating feelings instead of heeding the voice of Jesus.
What if we all adopted a new attitude of M.I.C.? “Mind in Christ.”
Do you belong to Jesus? If so, here is what he says in John 10:27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
“M.I.C.! M.I.C.! M.I.C.! Mind in Christ…”
The (real) New Year’s has arrived. What if we used it as an opportunity to tune out all the distractions, and recalibrate to Christ and to all the things that matter most.
Notes:
-*She spoke about this on the Pints with Aquinas podcast in an episode called “The Jesus Prayer for Beginners,” released on Apple Podcasts, June 18, 2026.
-Bible quotes, ESV.
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