Set Your Mind

Colossians 3:1-4

Paul begins the chapter by calling believers to "keep seeking the things above." What are the "things above"? They are teh things of Christ. The action, attitudes, and doctrine that flows from true knowledge of God. Thus the only way to persue the things above is to pursue knowledge of God. In verse 2 Paul tells us to set our minds on the things above. First we must seek, then we must set. The work for "set your mind" in the Greek means "to exercise the mind," and is a derivative of a word meaning "to reign in or curb." This then gives us the picture of diliberate actions mean to improve strength and health, and in this case, spiritual health. As we are running the race of life, we must focus on the goal. Make sure you are "storing up treasures in heaven" and not focused on the treasures of earth. This world is passing away, but heaven is eternal. Why must we as believers set our minds on the things above and not of the earth? Verse 3 answers that. "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." This means that our old self, our desires, our goals are gone. Now we are covered in the righteousness of Christ and we must follow His lead. Like Psa 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart." It is not that our fleshly desires will be fulfilled, but that God will place in our hearts, His desires so that they become our own. As Christians, we have become one with Christ. Verse 4 demostrates this when it says, "Christ, who is our life." We have become one with Christ and can no longer separate our life from His. Therefore, when He is revealed in glory, we will also be revealed with. This unseparatable character is why gnosticism cannot work. It separates the body from the soul, but if Christ is our life, then our body will also display Christ's character. I will discuss this further in the next section.