When I was about 14 I watched someone I admired drinking coffee and decided I too would become a coffee drinker.
The first cup tasted horrible, the next no better, but I persevered. I set my heart and mind to do this cool thing and in time it started to taste a little less ghastly. In fact I got to like it.
These days I can take it black, white, cappuccino, latte. I used to put strength ten espresso pods in my machine, until I discovered they made elevens! I sometimes have one partway through writing a sermon and tease listeners to see if they can spot the point where the caffeine kicks in!
So yeah, it’s wonderful what can happen when we set our hearts and minds on something. I’m not quite there yet with cabbage and prunes but hey, maybe one of these days!
My daily verse has just popped up on my Bible App and it is, ‘Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.’ (Colossians 3 v 2)
‘Set your affection…’, in other words a decision is necessary here, it won’t just happen. We need to choose with some determination where to focus our priorities. The Apostle says Christians should choose a spiritual, godly focus for our attention. Verse one says, ‘…set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.’ Number one in our affections should be our risen, reigning Saviour.
Of course it’s hard not to be taken up with ‘earthly’ stuff, the things around us we can see, hear, touch, smell and taste. Our heavenly Father gives us many good things to enjoy with thanksgiving in the here and now, but we need to remember these are temporary. It’s the life we have in Jesus that is forever.
So sometimes we have to do as Paul instructs here, count ourselves ‘dead’ to the idolatrous abuse of physical things to better appreciate and develop the spiritual.
To encourage us we’re given this promise, ‘When Christ, Who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.’ (v4)
Let’s set our affections on Him.
The first cup tasted horrible, the next no better, but I persevered. I set my heart and mind to do this cool thing and in time it started to taste a little less ghastly. In fact I got to like it.
These days I can take it black, white, cappuccino, latte. I used to put strength ten espresso pods in my machine, until I discovered they made elevens! I sometimes have one partway through writing a sermon and tease listeners to see if they can spot the point where the caffeine kicks in!
So yeah, it’s wonderful what can happen when we set our hearts and minds on something. I’m not quite there yet with cabbage and prunes but hey, maybe one of these days!
My daily verse has just popped up on my Bible App and it is, ‘Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.’ (Colossians 3 v 2)
‘Set your affection…’, in other words a decision is necessary here, it won’t just happen. We need to choose with some determination where to focus our priorities. The Apostle says Christians should choose a spiritual, godly focus for our attention. Verse one says, ‘…set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.’ Number one in our affections should be our risen, reigning Saviour.
Of course it’s hard not to be taken up with ‘earthly’ stuff, the things around us we can see, hear, touch, smell and taste. Our heavenly Father gives us many good things to enjoy with thanksgiving in the here and now, but we need to remember these are temporary. It’s the life we have in Jesus that is forever.
So sometimes we have to do as Paul instructs here, count ourselves ‘dead’ to the idolatrous abuse of physical things to better appreciate and develop the spiritual.
To encourage us we’re given this promise, ‘When Christ, Who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.’ (v4)
Let’s set our affections on Him.
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