It wasn’t that I was mad at God, or even that I wanted to ignore God, I just wasn’t in the habit of thinking about spiritual things throughout the day.
Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your minds on things above and not on things of this world, for you have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. I love the message version. It says it like this: “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.”
How do we live with our eyes up, seeing things from His perspective? How do we avoid doing whatever “feels good” at the moment, so we can cultivate a character that looks more like our creator, the one who made us to bear His image to the world?
Here are six practical ways we can “set our minds on things above” wherever we are in our walk with God:
Pray for your spouse, your marriage, your children, a friend who needs it. Pray the word of God. The word of God is active and alive, therefore it will have significant power of prayer. Prayer always draws you closer to God and positions your heart to see Him.
2) Write a verse on a card where you will see it.
Whatever verse you learned about on Sunday, or saw on Instagram, or read in your devotional time, write it on a card. Put it somewhere where you will see it and read over it during the day asking God to show you more about Himself through the verse that crossed your path.
3) Pick out a characteristic of God and focus on it for the day.
For example, God is Infinite. Colossians 1:17 says, “And He is before all things and He holds all things together.” Psalm 147:5 says, “Great is our Lord, and abundant is His power; His understanding is beyond measure.” Focusing on the characteristic of God being infinite reminds me that He existed before creation. He has everything under control and I can trust Him.
4) Set an alarm on your phone.
I know this one sounds funny, but you can set an alarm for noon and every day at noon read over a psalms or proverbs or pray. It can be very helpful to have a reminder to refocus your heart in the middle of the day.
5) Thank God for the cross.
Thank Him for sending his son to die on the cross for us. Thank Jesus for what he did so we can know how deeply He loves us. You don’t have to stop there, you can thank him for anything. Thanking God reminds us of who is the author and provider of all of the gifts in our lives.
6) Listen to worship music.
Music that lifts up the name of “Jesus” makes us instantly aware of how powerful and wonderful He is. And anything that points us to the gospel, is good for our souls.
Someone once said, “We will become what we behold.” Making a practice of beholding or putting our hearts eyes on spiritual things will draw us closer to Christ, helping Him to shine brighter through our lives, helping others to see and meet Him and helping us to grow to look more like Him. Sarah Hagerty says, “our hearts won’t mature deep into God by default.” Therefore, we have to choose through the power of the Holy Spirit to set our minds on things above.
These practical tips might not get you a lot of “likes”, but they will delight the heart of your maker. He is longing for relationship with you. He loves you endlessly.
My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples.
John 15:8