Passage to Ponder: Colossians 3:1-17
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.” -Colossians 3:1-2 (NLT)
You made it through another week! Two weeks are behind you and now the third week of this societal sabbatical is staring you in the face. How are you doing? Ready for some human contact and freedom? I sure am, but the Lord is still working His perfect plan to conclusion. So, you and I must wait, work as best we can, and keep looking up!
This world is often like a mirage in the desert. It offers the promise of an oasis from your troubles. But the oasis is nothing but more sand and more thirst. Christ offers reality—the ability to see beyond your immediate circumstances and peace in times of trouble. Keep looking up!
“Keep looking up? Pastor, I don’t need clichés to get me through this…I need real spiritual advice!” While it may sound like a cliché, the counsel to keep looking up is biblical. If you are in Christ, you have been given a new life, a new reality. With this new reality comes a new perspective. The day I chose to cast my lot with Jesus and trust in His death on the cross for the washing away of my sins, everything changed. My eyes were opened, and I saw that I had been living in blindness. My vision was 20/20, but I couldn’t see beyond my own little selfish world. As John Newton wrote in the classic hymn Amazing Grace, “I was blind, but now I see.” My spiritual eyes were now opened. “How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!”
The Bible tells you in Colossians 3:1-2 that if you have been raised to a new life with Jesus, you now have the ability to look beyond your immediate situation and set your eyes on the “realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.” When the Bible tells you to “keep looking up,” you are NOT being told to put on a fake smile and convince yourself that everything is going to be fine. You are being told to see reality: no matter what happens, Jesus is still on the throne at the Father’s right hand. He is still in control! That is why Paul reminds you to “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.”
Each day of this quarantine you have a choice to make. Am I going to focus on my momentary frustrations and fears? Or, am I going to focus on Christ’s purpose in all of this? Am I going to try to get through this in my own emotional strength and strategies? Or, am I going to keep looking up to Christ and lean on His strength and strategy? The Apostle Paul went on to write in verses 3-4, “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.” Am I going to have a pity party? Or, am I going to celebrate that the Lord has invited me to a great victory party? That is the difference between looking around and looking up!
Love,
Pastor Larry
Pastor Larry
(This is from a series of devotionals written during our time of restricted meetings and activities due to
the coronavirus.)
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