Where is Your Mind?
Our minds are kind of like the rudder of a ship. The rudder guides the ship. How it is set is how the ship will sail. Col. 1:2 tells us to set our minds. What are we to set our minds on? Things above, not on earthly things. The verse before that says, "Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated." So in the space of two verses we have two commands. Set your hearts; set your minds. Whatever we have our mind set on is how our life will be governed. If our mind is set on things above, then we will pursue things that are pleasing to Christ. If our mind is set on earthly things, we will follow our earthly nature. And those things are not so nice. Verse 5 lists them: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed.
The Message states it this way: "So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ -- that's where the action is. See things from his perspective. And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God."
Verse 5 says to put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature. That means to deaden or deprive of power those evil desires. So how do we do this? Rom. 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I believe our minds are renewed and transformed as we fill them with God's word. Col. 3:16 says "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." And verse 15: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." Again, these are two commands. Not just good ideas. But the Lord is saying, "You do this!!"
We live in an earthly world and we have to be concerned with every day things such as families, jobs and relationships. So how do we do both? I think Col. 3:17 and 33 give the answer. "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus" "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men......It is the Lord Christ you are serving." If we are submitting our lives to Christ and commit each day to him our everyday things can be done as unto the Lord. Housewives can clean their houses, do the laundry and take care of their children as unto the Lord. As you go to work for the bank, Starbucks, the City of San Diego, or wherever you work, you can do your very best and work as unto the Lord.
We need to guard our minds and be careful what we fill them with. If we are filling our minds with trashy literature, pornography, X-rated movies or even some of the current TV sitcoms; gossip, backbiting, bitter thoughts and unforgiveness, we will have a hard time setting our minds on things above.
It's a good idea to do a mind check occasionally and be cognizant of what our minds are dwelling on. Ask yourself, "Where is my mind? What is it set on?
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