“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”
(Col. 3:2; NASB)
Life can get pretty crazy sometimes. Taking care of work, children, spouse, church, bills, house and yard, vehicles, and miscellaneous social events can be exhausting and stressful. Some have school or continuing education added periodically, some have extended family situations, overtime, illness, and more. Whatever your responsibility load is, I’ll bet it stays at just under your personal overload mark most of the time. That’s most of the time. Sometimes it expands to being full out overload. Unfortunately, we wait until we’re ready to explode before we stop to consider how out-of-control things have gotten. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Living a Christian life means so much more than attending church and church related functions. It’s more than reading the Bible every day and praying before meals. These are all good things to practice but they are just activities that keep you busy if they’re not under the guidance of the Lord. That might seem like a strange statement, but it’s true. You can do all of those things and still not be in obedience to what God wants for you. For instance, going to church is a good thing, but if you’ve chosen your church because it has good music and a fun atmosphere, you may be missing something. Have you prayed about where the Lord wants you to go? That’s the important question.
It’s the same with everything in your life. Have you consulted with God about your daily activities? Have you prayed about going back to school, or taking the overtime, or joining that club that meets every week? Have you prayed about the activities your children are in? These are things we should bring to God in prayer before we ever commit to them. In fact, we should bring everything to Him before committing. And if there is no positive feeling as a result, we need to be willing to let them go.
God knows what is beneficial for you and what is unnecessary. Setting your mind on the things above means listening to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and not being tempted to do things because you think they’re necessary. Don’t be afraid to turn down or step away from things if you’ve prayed about them and not gotten a positive response. You’ll be surprised at how manageable and productive life can be if you just “set your mind on the things above.”
Have a great week and God bless.