Week 29: Heavenly Minded...Earthly Good!

This week's Bible reading unfolds like this:

Sunday (Epistles): Colossians 3-4
Monday (Law): Leviticus 16-18
Tuesday (History): 2 Kings 11-15
Wednesday (Psalms): Psalms 84-86
Thursday (Poetry): Proverbs 11-12
Friday (Prophecy): Ezekiel 31-36
Saturday (Gospels): Luke 21-22

Scripture
In Colossians 3:1-4, Paul writes, "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory."

Observation
In a number of Christian circles these days there's a lot of to-do about the need for Christ-followers to focus more on issues of social justice than on the hope of heaven. They sometimes refer to the remark that Oliver Wendell Holmes made more than a century ago: "Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good."

This passage, however, suggests that if we are not heavenly minded enough, we are no earthly good at all.

The problem is this: when we make any earthly thing the center of our lives and the primary goal of our existence, we lose sight of One who is the very reason for our existence. There are many good and noble causes that we can pursue. And it may be that Jesus Christ wants us to take up some of these. But if we end up serving the cause, we end up serving the wrong master.

When Jesus came to earth, he did not serve the world on behalf of the Father...for that would have made the world his master. Paul elsewhere reminds us that we become slaves of whatever we choose to obey (Rom. 6:16). And Jesus declares that we cannot serve more than one master (Matt. 6:24).

Jesus engaged in acts of service to the world, but every time he did so it was to serve the Father. Jesus made this abundantly clear in John 5:30: "I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will." In other words, Jesus didn't serve the world on behalf of the Father, he served the Father on behalf of the world.

Jesus was effective in carrying out his earthly ministry precisely because he was so heavenly minded...and Paul in Colossians 3 bids us to do likewise.

Application
I get to do a lot of good things as a follower of Jesus Christ. In fact, I get a lot of personal satisfaction from these activities. But I've discovered, mostly in retrospect after I've hit the wall of burnout, that when I lower my gaze onto the good things themselves...and take my eyes off the One for whom I do all these things...I lose my way.

This passage reminds me that I NEED to be heavenly minded. My spiritual survival depends on it!

Prayer
O Lord, this week as I spend time communing with you in your word, help me to set my sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at your right hand. Help me to do a better job thinking more about the things of heaven than the things of earth. Help me live into the truth that in Christ I died to this life, and that my life is now hidden with Christ...in you! And help me lay claim to the hope that when Christ is revealed to the whole world, we who are his in this life will share in all his glory forever. For Jesus' sake...amen!

Let's be heavenly minded so that we can be earthly good!

Faithfully,
Chuck