What do you set your mind on?<\/p>\n
We often set our minds on the past \u2013 how so-and-so talked down to me, how I failed or succeeded on that recent test, how nice it was to receive a compliment \u2013 or on the longer-term future: what job I want to be doing a few years from now, whom I will marry, how many children we should have, what retirement will look like. We also tend to set our minds on our immediate needs \u2013 such as what we will eat for dinner, what we will say to an angry child, how we will avoid a traffic jam, and how we will spend the weekend.<\/p>\n
We can\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t avoid thinking about such issues. But the Apostle Paul tells us that our focus<\/em>, our central mindset, should be different: \u201cSet your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth\u201d (Colossians 3:2).<\/p>\n Why are we to do this? He explains: \u201cFor you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God\u201d (Colossians 3:3). That is: The You that was focused on the things of the earth has died. Yes, you are still in the body. Yes, you still need to eat and sleep. Yes, there are still the pressures, joys, and sorrows of earthly life. But via the sacrifice of Jesus you are reconciled to God \u2013 and He promises that He will never leave you or forsake you, that He will bring you safely to His heavenly Kingdom, that He is working all things on this earth together for your good and the glory of His Name. He has united you with Christ so that He sees Him when He looks at you. You have an inheritance that will never perish, that has no blemish, that will never fade, kept for you in His presence \u2013 and He will grant that inheritance to you at exactly the right time.<\/p>\n Furthermore: \u201cWhen Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory\u201d (Colossians 3:4). Jesus will come back at the end of the age to punish those who continue in rebellion against Him and to complete the work begun in all of His people. Our life is now hidden in Him, but on that Day the glory of our new life will appear. Note that \u201cin glory” is not a location but a description of who we will be when Jesus appears. On the earth, in this fallen world, we may appear to be ruined, weak, and powerless; we may feel abandoned, hurt, and confused; we will be tempted to lose hope, to quit striving, to give up. But in the midst of all our trials, our true life remains protected with Christ in God \u2013 whatever happens around us or to us, it is safe with Him! And Jesus is certain to return. At that time we will appear with Him and be seen for what we truly are in Him: glorious, spotless, perfected, His delight and joy.<\/p>\n So set your mind today on such things \u2013 not that you ignore all these other concerns, but that you interpret all other concerns in light of who you are in Christ. Because of who you are in Christ, you can thank God for the gifts and kindnesses and joys around you; you can persevere through the trials and temptations; you can slough off insults, mockings, and demeaning words; you can love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; you can love your neighbor as you love yourself.<\/p>\n Christian, Jesus is your life. He will return. In Him you are glorious, spotless, perfected. Set your mind on that<\/em>\u2013 every minute of every day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What do you set your mind on? We often set our minds on the past \u2013 how so-and-so talked down to me, how I failed or succeeded on that recent…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,15],"tags":[286,319,610,728,795,1016,1149,1227,1295,1340,1409,1491,1724],"class_list":["post-1961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-devotions","tag-christ-who-is-your-life","tag-colossians-3","tag-glory","tag-hidden-with-christ-in-god","tag-inheritance","tag-mindset","tag-perseverance","tag-protection","tag-reconciliation-with-god","tag-return-of-christ","tag-second-coming","tag-spotless","tag-worry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1961\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}