Colossians 3:1-2, “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.”
Do you take life far too seriously? I tend to. What is currently pressing on you? Is it health, family, or work issues? What dreams do you have? What do you think about the most? When you view life with heaven as your final home and destination, where you live, what you drive, and what you do in your vocation doesn’t really matter. All throughout Scripture, the message is to set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, as Paul stated in Colossians 3:1-2. As I am going about my daily routine of work and handling many issues, I have had to ask myself, this week, am I placing my thoughts on my eternal home, heaven? Will my strategies for solving problems as they occur be different from possessing that mindset? Outcomes are not always based on what is right in front of us that needs our attention. Being flexible is not easy for me and I seem to be stretched in this area of growth more and more recently, and have not always responded in the way that I should. Emotions can cloud one’s judgment and actions on what would be the objective right thing would be to do.
God has eternal purposes for the work He has given each one of us to do. Yes, we each are held accountable for the results according to the provisions God determines. But if I put into practice the greatest command God has given, which is 1) Love God. 2) Love others as yourself – both of these steps will give me a lens of loving and caring that my competitor will not have. That needs to make up the core of my business strategy in being that light, as I pray every morning, Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.” God has determined for each of us where we will have the most significant impact for Him, no matter our age.
Our jobs and life today take up so much of our time. But Paul is telling the believers in Colossae that it should be said, “Jesus Christ is his or her life,” when people reflected on their lives and those who had passed away. I want that! So as I go about my workday, I need to remember this phrase that I want people to think about me when my life is over, “Jesus Christ was her life.” That is my prayer, my desire, my goal, as life gets messy, sticky, and challenging more and more. These global economic dilemmas creating havoc in our employment and various erroneous babblings of philosophies in our culture today are nothing compared to what our home in heaven awaits us. Meanwhile, our role is to manage the ministry or work God has given us to do right here and now, right in front of us. God-gifted people is not a job description. It is a ministry. Where you are at is where God has determined you would have the greatest impact for His glory (Ephesians 4:11-12).
The Message says it this way, of Colossians 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.”
Listen to Natalie Grant’s My Weapon 2/24/2020