The Things Above

Colossians 3:1-4

Now that Paul has finished his theological treatise on who we are in Christ, he turns the corner and starts talking about walking it out.  My study bible has a good explanatory footnote on this:

Paul’s appeal is simple: become in experience what you already are by God’s grace.  The Christian is risen with Christ; let him exhibit that new life.

That’s the Christian journey, isn’t it?  Yet, there tends to be a stigma on this concept.  I think Paul does a good job helping us to understand what it means to live in Christ (as if he needed my critique, anyway).  As we begin the third chapter of this letter, I think it is noteworthy to see how he mentions seeking things above, instead of trying not to do things of this world.  I have heard someone once tell me that they don’t want to become a Christian because then they would have to give up smoking cigarettes.  Well, that kind of reveals that smoking is more important than allegiance to Almighty God, doesn’t it?  But this reveals a peculiar dynamic that we should all pay attention to, which Paul is pointing out here.

It isn’t necessarily about changing the way we behave.  God does the transformation for us!  Sure, as we mature in our relationship with Him, He will convict us of things that we need to work on and surrender to Him.  But considering that we have to become a certain way in order to start a relationship with Christ, or even that we immediately have to stop doing certain things, is actually an inaccurate perception of the Christian life.  It’s almost like saying, “Well, I want to go to the doctor, but I don’t want to stop coughing.”  Another way of looking at it is, “Well, I have to get better before I can go see the doctor so he gives me a clean bill of health.”  We have it all backwards!  The more we draw nearer to Him, the better we will become.  He will transform us from the inside out as we walk along this journey.  

As I grow deeper in my understanding and practice of spiritual formation, I realize that it isn’t about taking away certain activities.  It is about learning how to abide in the Spirit, commune with Christ, and glorify God with my life as a result.  In fact, in some of Jesus’ teachings, we see how He exposes hypocrisy because the Pharisees did all the “right things” and were still very far from the heart of God!  It’s not about what we do or not do, but if our hearts are aligned with Him. Matthew 7:21-22 is the scariest passage in the bible, from my perspective, because I can get caught up doing all sorts of amazing things in God’s name, but never know Him.  

So, as we walk along life and try to figure out what is most important, let us consider spending more time focused on the things above.  Let us seek our pleasure, our needs, and our joy from God.  Because, as Luke 11 says, “God will give you the Holy Spirit if you ask for it.”