Focus On What Is Above

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2

Today we’re big on the concept of instant gratification and acquiring more stuff. But ‘earthly things’ lose their appeal once the bill arrives and the interest on your credit cards starts piling up. When that happens, blessings can turn into curses and rob you of the joy of living. One pastor says: ‘Materialism doesn’t satisfy because it’s tyrannical, and human beings were born to be free…We find we don’t own the house—the house owns us. We’re married to a mortgage. We become slaves to gadgets and garments. After they’re purchased, delivered and installed, we enjoy a fleeting sense of pleasure, but they still dominate, dictate and demand, ‘‘Press me, polish me, patch me, paint me, prune me, plaster me!’’ We spend our best years and the bulk of our money working for ‘‘things” until…we’ve no time left to pursue life’s really enjoyable vocations: visiting friends, having fun, and serving others in need…no time to do good deeds, see places, or visit the people who give us the greatest inner joy. Paul says, ‘‘Godliness with contentment is great gain’’ (1 Timothy 6:6). And to experience that contentment you need to count your blessings every day and thank the One who made them all possible.’ Jon Walker writes: ‘Assume there’s an imaginary line dividing what you can see from what you can’t see—the temporal from the eternal. Our objective in Jesus is to look upon the things ‘‘above”, so we can understand that what we see and feel is not a full and accurate measurement of God’s reality…people are eternal beings, and decisions that seem insignificant now, when seen in the fullness of reality, are of eternal significance.’

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me see beyond today and focus on the one thing that is eternal – You and Life forever with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen