Set Your Minds On Christ [Colossians 3]

1Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.3For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Colossians 3 is a delicious blend of grace and its reflection available to believers in Christ. The chapter begins with with the word "therefore" referring back to all that had been written in chapters one and two. In those chapters, we saw all that we are in Christ because of His entering this world as a baby and leaving it by enduring the cross, being raised by God and ascending into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. Paul understood the need to keep on presenting the gospel. He saw the importance of emphasizing the enormity of it in the lives of those who believe in Jesus. That is the grace part that Paul continued to interweave through Chapter 3 with the reflection or the kind of life change that is possible for those who live in the light of the gospel.

We can live lives filled and overflowing with grace today and every day because of Jesus. We can live lives that are worth living and that shine in this dark world. This can happen when we fix our eyes on the One who bought us from slavery to sin and made the abundant life a reality for us today and every day that we choose to exchange our inability to live right with His grace and let it reflect in our lives.

We praise You, God, for the enormity of the grace You make available to every believer all of the time through Jesus. Cause us to fix our eyes on Jesus and what He did each day. Cause us live a life of putting off our weak flesh ways and putting on Your character so that we can reflect Your life.

Beth Warlick, 8/12/2009