Tuesday, October 17, 2023
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:1-2
A New Focus
In the first two chapters of Colossians, Paul has been talking the Christians in Colossae about who Jesus is but now, in chapter 3, He begins to focus on how our lives change when we become a follower of Christ. As a follower of Christ, we no longer belong to this earthly world and the things in it. We are just passing through this world, to our eternal home in Heaven with Him. Therefore, now we should focus on Him and the things of that world.
It is only in focusing on Him (seeking Him, seeking the things above, having a relationship with Him, abiding in Him) that we find true and abundant life. If we say we are a Christian and have gone through all the steps, but don’t change the focus of our heart, we will be the walking dead. We were dead in our sins, and we were raised to new life in Him. But unless we seek Him, and grow in Him, we will not be any different inside than we were before. When we focus on Him, we can have a relationship with Him and begin to grow and find true abundant life in Him.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
When we seek the things of this world, we are seeking satisfaction and fulfillment and sustenance from things that only offer dry sand. They are empty cisterns. Jesus Christ gives life – abundant life. He is the living water and when we go to Him, we will never thirst again. When we turn to the things of the world, we will never find lasting fulfillment, and the momentary fulfillment that the world offers will often cause more heartache.
A heart and mind that are not intentionally set on Christ will be easily turned by the things of this world. It is too easy for us to be distracted by our circumstances, responsibilities, or trials to take a chance. The minute we turn our focus away, whatever comes at us is so much more difficult to get through if we are not focused on Him. When we focus on Him, we are reminded of His promises and faithfulness when circumstances get tough. When we focus on Him, we remember to handle situations in a way that is glorifying to Him. When we focus on Him, we are not focusing on our own selfish desires and needs. When we focus on Him, we remember what He did for us on the cross and in the grave. We remember that He is victorious over sin and death and in Him, we have that victory too.
When we “set our minds” on something, we are choosing to think about it above other things. We also choose to make decisions based on that “something” and we choose to let it influence our words and actions. It changes how we live our lives, and it is our choice to make that happen. When we become Christians, we are immediately changed in that we are dead in our sins and going to hell one minute, and the next we are a born-again child of God with eternal life. But our actions and desires and words don’t change automatically. We have to choose to focus on Him above other things and allow our relationship with Him to impact the decisions we make, the words we say, and the actions we take. Setting our minds on Him and the things above will help us make the right choices while we are here on this earth and change the way we live our lives.
