Colossians 3:1-11 The Message
He Is Your Life
3 1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.
3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
5-8 And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
9-11 Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
In the hustle and bustle of life, it’s easy to become consumed by the distractions and stresses of the world.
Our focus often shifts from eternal perspectives to temporary, earthly matters.
We become fixated on problems, failures, and the pressure to perform, but all of that can limit our vision and steal our peace.
The apostle Paul encourages us to set our hearts and minds “on things above, not on earthly things.”
When we do, we gain a new perspective.
We are reminded that our identity is in Christ and that our hope is in the Lord, who rules over all things in heaven and on earth.
The troubles of today become smaller when we shift our gaze upward, realizing that we are citizens of a kingdom that is unshakable.
Set Your Minds Above
Let’s take a closer look at one of my favorite places in the Bible.
Colossians 3:1–4. Paul writes,
Put On the New Self
3 Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. 3 For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, [a]appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
A couple of basics right up front.
One, there’s a command Paul gives right at the center of this section of verses.
He says to “set your minds on things that are above.”
This is basic Christianity: a discipline of focus, of perspective, of cultivating a vision for the world to come that’s been promised as the ultimate future for all of God’s people.
Paul’s calling us to a kind of spiritual discipline that meditates on the promises that God has given to us that we have not seen yet and something we have not experienced yet but which is ultimately crucial for our new identity in Christ.
The second thing to notice here is that this command is rooted in who Jesus is to us: “Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on earth.”
Why? “Because you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Our life before—the old self, the life that died—wanted everything it could get out of this world right here, right now.
It’s all about kingdom building here.
All about squeezing as much goodness, as much status, as much power, as much wealth as we could.
That life is dead now.
Through Jesus we recognize that that life was dead already.
It had no hope, no future, nothing lasting.
And in Christ, we found something far greater.
So, now our life is hidden with him, and he is where we are headed.
The world to come is an experience that we have not had yet, but it involves a person we do know and experience and relate to right now.
We can long for it because we long for and love him so much.
Verse 4: “when Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
That’s the horizon, and Paul’s putting it right at the center of the Christian life.
Probably our other notable observations about this passage is not in these verses but in the verses that come next.
Sometimes there’s a knock on this heavenly-mindedness Paul’s calling for, as if it’s a kind of betrayal of the earth, minimizing how important things are here and now, a distraction from our calling here and now to serve God in this world and this life.
And I’m sure people have been guilty of that in the past, from indifference or inaction with real opportunities and real needs around them.
But Paul just won’t settle for that kind of dichotomy.
Yes, he says set your mind on things above, not on things that are on earth, but he doesn’t mean set your mind on heaven and pay no attention at all to the life you and I are living now.
That is not what he means.
Set your mind on what’s coming, not on what you were living for.
That’s what he means—not what this earthly life offers to you as a reward or any source of hope.
Set your mind, he says, on things above precisely so that you live in this world right here, right now in a way that honors God and all that he’s done for you.
Verse 5 through the end of this chapter, it’s one of his most comprehensive, most beautiful, most detailed descriptions of what it means to live right now as a Christian.
All of that flows from a mind that’s set on things above.
He talks about sex, marriage, parenting, and work.
He talks about envy, lying, slander, and gossip.
He talks about forgiveness, patience, humility, and meekness.
All of it flows out of a mind that’s set on things above.
There’s nothing more practical to your life as a Christian and to your growth and holiness than cultivating a heavenly mindedness that helps us to see the things of earth in light of where all this is headed.
One of the most important applications to draw from this text is learning to recognize where in Colossians 3 we are wanting to grow, something you are wanting to put off, as he says to do in verses 5–11, or put on as he says to do in verses 12–17.
And then see how that area connects back to what’s coming in your future because of Jesus.
Maybe you are dealing with revenge, envy, or wrath, or anger management has been an impossible problem to overcome for you.
John 16:29-33 English Standard Version
29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Have you thought about how your anger might be connected to not focusing enough on things above and on things to come?
Have you thought about if what you want is to grow in your patience or your meekness towards your children as a parent?
Have you seriously thought about the fact that seeing your future as defined by heaven is directly relevant to your growing in patience right here, right now?
Paul is saying that it is.
Have you seriously thought about how?
I hold what Paul’s given us here is a wonderful tool to start using.
The answers you are going to find are going to depend on your prayers and of careful reading and studying Scripture, diligent observations of earthly events, praying to God asking “is this how God is revealing his answer back to you.”
Proverbs 29:18 The Message
18 If people can’t see what God is doing,
they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what he reveals,
they are most blessed.
Discover God’s Chazown For Your Life
Chazown is the Hebrew word for prophetic vision, and it’s what God had in mind for you when you were created.
Discovering your Chazown starts with examining your core values, spiritual gifts, and past experiences.
These three areas will help you identify common themes, bring clarity to your unique passions, lead guide direct move you to the purpose God has just for you.
The best part is you can start planning your next steps toward pursuing God’s vision—His Chazown—for your life today!
The question worth asking is:
“How does my thinking more clearly about where all this is headed, give me more insight, more vison, as I strive for holiness right here and right now?”
Pray to focus on God’s promises and his eternal plan, putting your worries into God’s perspective.
Life becomes less about immediate outcomes and more about fulfilling God’s higher purposes. It is a powerful shift, giving his peace in the midst of chaos.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ….
Praying …
Psalm 139:1-18 Complete Jewish Bible
139 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David:
(1) Adonai, you have probed me, and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I stand up,
you discern my inclinations from afar,
3 you scrutinize my daily activities.
You are so familiar with all my ways
4 that before I speak even a word, Adonai,
you know all about it already.
5 You have hemmed me in both behind and in front
and laid your hand on me.
6 Such wonderful knowledge is beyond me,
far too high for me to reach.
7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I climb up to heaven, you are there;
if I lie down in Sh’ol, you are there.
9 If I fly away with the wings of the dawn
and land beyond the sea,
10 even there your hand would lead me,
your right hand would hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Let darkness surround me,
let the light around me be night,”
12 even darkness like this
is not too dark for you;
rather, night is as clear as day,
darkness and light are the same.
13 For you fashioned my inmost being,
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I thank you because I am awesomely made,
wonderfully; your works are wonders —
I know this very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes could see me as an embryo,
but in your book all my days were already written;
my days had been shaped
before any of them existed.
17 God, how I prize your thoughts!
How many of them there are!
18 If I count them, there are more than grains of sand;
if I finish the count, I am still with you.
23 Examine me, God, and know my heart;
test me, and know my thoughts.
24 See if there is in me any hurtful way,
and lead me along the eternal way.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 