Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:1-2

Devotion

What’s the first thing you did when you woke up this morning? What captured your attention and entered your thoughts before anything else?

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians is a letter to the church, the recipients are people who have already committed their lives to following Jesus. So Paul begins with this truth—because you have already placed your faith in Jesus Christ, you can live in the power of the resurrection. Your old self is dead and buried, and you have been raised to new life in Jesus. Paul reiterates this truth in 2 Corinthians 5:17—”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

The problem, though, is that you’ve been raised to new life in the same broken world. From the moment you wake up, it demands your attention: look down at your phone and at your Google calendar. Look down at your problems and at the well-worn path of your daily routine. As a result, we must choose every day, often moment by moment, where we will fix our gaze and what we will consume.

There is an old story about a map maker who spent his entire life surveying the floor of the Grand Canyon. He knew every rock, every bend in the river, and every shadow cast by the towering walls. He was an expert on the canyon floor. He spent decades looking down, measuring his steps and plotting the terrain.

One day, as the story goes, a traveler he met asked him, "Isn't the sunset atop the rim magnificent?" The map maker paused, realizing he hadn't truly looked up at the rim in years. The pain he experienced, from the stoop that now existed in his back, made it difficult to see. He had become so shaped by the ground he studied that he lost sight of what mattered most.

Sometimes we can be like that map maker: so focused on the "canyon floor" of our lives and so consumed by the horizontal—the things we can see, touch, taste, and worry about—that we forget that we were created for the vertical. There is a "rim," a higher perspective where Christ sits in victory. Paul tells the church to stand up, and lift their eyes.

Paul also makes a distinction between the heart and the mind:

• Set Your Heart: This involves your affections and desires. It asks the question, What do I love most? I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that Paul says to set your heart before he says to set your mind. Where your heart is, the rest of you tends to follow. When our hearts are set on things above, we find that the treasures of this earth—the things we pursue like success, comfort, and wealth—lose their luster.
• Set Your Mind: This involves your focus and your will. Your will is simply your capacity to choose. What you choose fuels your focus. Choosing wisely is a daily, and often moment-by-moment, discipline that begins with just choosing the next right thing.

So, how do we practically "set our minds" in a world filled with distraction?

1.  Audit Your Input: If the first thing you look at or listen to in the morning is something like the news or social media, you’ve set your mind on "earthly things.” Give the first fruits of your day to the Lord. What you focus on first sets your day. Start small and work your way up. Even the first five minutes given to Scripture or prayer will change the trajectory of the hours ahead.

2.  Check Your Lens: What filter do you see the world through? When a crisis hits, ask yourself, “How much will this matter in a hundred years?” This simple question helps shift your perspective from temporary frustration to what matters eternally.

3.  Practice Gratitude: Earthly-mindedness is often rooted in what we lack. Heavenly-mindedness is rooted in what we have already been given in Christ. Thank him as often as possible.

As we rely on the Holy Spirit, one choice at a time … one day at a time … we learn to walk in resurrection life.

PRAYER

God, thank you for Jesus. When the things of this world get loud, shiny, tough, distracting, and overwhelming, help me to keep my eyes fixed on you. Give me eyes to see and faith to follow you above all else. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Kim Gilliam
Mayfair Location Associate Pastor

Resources:

Read The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard.

Watch A Kingdom Mindset by Pastor Andy Rauschkolb.

Explore other devotions like this one any time at crossings.church/devotions .