Think about it…..

I was reading early this morning out of Paul’s little letter to the Colossians in “The Message.” This line of thought at the beginning of chapter 3 caught my eye and prompted some moments of introspection.

“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.”

It’s that last sentence that grabbed me. So, what is his perspective? What’s important to him? Of course, that isn’t particularly hard to determine. His perspective has to do with only the things that last. He looks at everything for the long run. That isn’t to say “things” around us aren’t important. They are—just not as……because they aren’t going to last.

That’s exactly what Paul urges us to do. Stay focused on what is really important. Why preoccupy yourself with what is temporary at the expense of grasping what is permanent?

It is in the very same vein Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 not to worry about food, clothes, shelter, etc. That’s shuffling along with your eyes on the ground. Instead he says, “What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Now I’m left to ask myself, “Do I really trust Him to mean that?”

Dan