Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

Colossians 3: 2

 

Getting stuck on the details of every day life is the most human of tendencies. These are the things that consume us, for these are the things that are right in front of our noses as we navigate the day. All of this, and I do mean all of it, can be a distraction from setting a true course for the journey. Even worse is the fact that becoming so earthly focused moves us away from the peace, joy, and the glory that Christ intends for us to enjoy every day. When my mind is set on studying the details and on solving all of the mysteries of this world, I lose my best capability to do those very things.

 

Christ is the singular victor over the forces of sin and death that have tried to rule this world from the early days of creation. There is a tangible element of brokenness and decay that has embedded itself into all of the elements of our existence on earth, and this element is bent on a relentless path of destruction. It is the author of our fears and our anger; it is the source of human oppression; it is the cause of our disintegrating earth; and it is the wedge that has been driven between the God-image creation design that humans were gifted with by our Creator and the frail physical and emotional forms that we live with. The more energy and effort that we expend on the condition of our world, the farther we will wander from the truth of our real state of being.

 

The answers to poverty, to emotional pain, to natural disasters, to disease, and to lostness are found in Christ. In His life, death, and resurrection Christ defeated all of the Satanic forces that bring about these conditions. The painfully decaying state of affairs that surrounds us on earth is not the one that God intended, but when our first ancestors chose to defy God, it is the one that they determined to bring upon themselves and upon their descendants. We can choose to do something about this. We can determine that we will set our hearts and our minds on Christ and seek His perspective on everything. We can offer up our lives in loving service to righteousness, and we can trust in the absolute goodness of God’s heart. It is from this heavenly and eternal perspective that all of the events, situations, and decisions that we need to make in this life can be handled with confident peace.