Focus your mind on Jesus

"Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."   Colossians 3:2   NKJV 

What do you think about the most? What is uppermost in your mind? These are important questions and the answers shape how we live our Christian lives. Paul tells us to set our minds on heaven not on the earth, and this is wise counsel. However, with what goes on in our daily lives, it can be impossible to do this all of the time. Or is it impossible? Jesus already told us to:'Seek first the kingdom of God' (Matt 6:33). And in John 14:1 'Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me." Firstly in Matthew 6, Jesus is telling us not to worry about things, as we seek Him first, He shall give us what we need. In John 14, Jesus tells us not to be troubled about anything, just believe in Him. Just from these two verses, we learn that as we look towards Jesus, He is there to take care of us. 

It would be impossible to avoid all of life's problems and, Jesus knows that. What He is telling us here is to place Him firmly in the driving seat of our life. When a problem comes our way, we are not to just sweep it under the carpet pretending it hasn't come. No, take this problem to Jesus because He cares. If it is a care to us, it's a care to Him but, He is the one that can change things (1 Peter 5:7).

So we see that it is possible to set our minds on Jesus, not on the earth. When we realise that we died with Christ, we were dead in Christ and than, raised to a new life in Christ (Symbolic of water Baptism), we understand that our old life is in the past, we now have a new life - even though we are still on this earth - a new life in Jesus and this is why we set our minds on things above because, Jesus is there.

We still have a long way to go though. Sin still tries to rule in our lives and this is why Paul reminds us to 'put off' our unwholesome and unclean habits - (Read v5 - 11). Here Paul mentions the things that trip us up and probably still will until we are safely installed in heaven. The thing is, we know that we belong to Jesus above so, we keep pressing on and saying no to the things that tempt us. We will get some of them right but, there are still the difficult areas that hold us back. 

Jesus chose you and I at the start of the creation. He knows everything about us and still loves us. You see, He looks at the finished product (Phil 1:6). He looks at the perfect you and to Him, it looks nice. So remember this when you next let Him down. Confess your sin, receive forgiveness and keep looking toward heaven.

If you are not born again and want to be, here I’ll below is a prayer of salvation:

'Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen'

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