“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2)
What better time than now to dig deeper into your new ID as being “in Christ”? Paul describes is this way: You died to the old you when you became a Christian and then you were raised from the dead with Jesus into a brand new identity.
That sounds like a radical transformation, so shouldn’t it be more noticeable in your day-to-day? It can be. You can choose to be Jesus in your home, at your school, in your church. (We could use way more Jesuses in our churches.)
How? We stepped on square one yesterday: Make heaven your goal; set a heading beyond this life and into the next one. That’s what “set your hearts on things above” means. Next: Think about where you’re going. More clearly: Think about heaven and the stuff of God more than you think about the stuff of this short-term existence.
It’s work to think about stuff. You’ve got to do it on purpose or it will never happen. So what’s so great about heaven, anyway? What makes it better than this life? What are we missing now that we won’t miss there? And how will you be different when you’re done with sin and death once and for all? (Are you thinking about the “above things,” yet?)
Think: What’s your strategy to spend more time thinking about the things above? How could you use technology or relationships or your new school schedule to make that happen?
Pray: Ask God to help you to set your mind on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Do: Make a quick list of five things you know about your future and forever life in heaven.