Things That Are Above
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3 (ESV)
I find this passage encouraging and timely. It is exactly the kind of message we need today. So often in our culture when we (finally) stop to think about the Lord we are faced with the horrible reality that we have not been spending our time for Him at all, but rather for ourselves.
During the day we rush about for our employers or for our customers at our jobs. It seems easily enough justified since it is our good performance at our job that pays the bills. Unless of course you stop to realize that it is God himself who is your provider (see Acts 17:25).
In the evening we fill our time with families, television, and the Internet. This too can be justified with little effort since we led such a stress filled day. We simply want to relax and to be entertained.
Even in the dark of night when we should be sleeping; we lie awake for hours worrying about our lives, our goals, our friends, our families, and the list goes on. There is little to justify here. More likely this exasperation with our lives is what drives us back to a place where we can see just how badly we need to be with the Lord. I hate to state it like that, but it is true. We need to be with Him. We need to be with Him in prayer, and in His word. We need to have our minds fixed on the things of God or else our lives will consume us.
I am afraid it is much worse for many of us than simply squandering time on self-centeredness. Much of our time is spent on a wide variety of unhealthy lifestyle practices. There is a long list of these “works of the flesh” found in Galatians 5:19-21. I am of course speaking of sinful behavior. This is not how the life of a true believer should be lived, but unhappily these are the realities of the modern Christian. Today’s worldly culture is prevalent in the lives of professing Christians, and the danger is obvious.
We make so many of our decisions (big and small) without thinking of Him, but only of ourselves. This is certainly not how we intend to live our lives, so we find ourselves at a loss for a way to change. Thankfully, the Lord knows our weakness and has provided us a way out. Paul states it this way in our passage, “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” We need to keep our head in the game. We are not of this world, and we have a living Savior who is not powerless to save us.
I am not writing to you as one who has already achieved a faultless lifestyle, but as one who is also in need of rescue from the self-absorbed culture of today. I urge you to join me in a fresh start. Begin each day by reading the word of God, and in prayer. Ask the Lord to fill your day with reminders of Him and of His kingdom. Read a Psalm when you find yourself burdened during the day, and ask the Lord for strength to respond rightly to trials. Look for opportunities to reach out to those around you, keeping in mind all that the Lord has done for you. Above all, do not get caught up in worrying about yourself, because it is no longer all about you. You died the day you became the Lord’s, and your life is now hidden in Him. Let us see if we can together discover a working definition of a life hidden in the Lord Jesus Christ.