BY GREG CRUM
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:1-2
Here in Colossians 3, we are told to “set our affection on things above.” What does that mean though? More importantly, what is the point? The answers to those questions are found when you take a keyword used in verse 2 out of the 17th century and translate it into a term that we are more familiar with. For the term “affection,” think “mind” or “thoughts.”
In other words, the Apostle Paul is encouraging us here in Colossians to “Set our minds on things above,” or to “Think about the things of Heaven, not the things of the earth.”
Makes more sense now, right? Sure, it does, and we can also more readily see its application for our day and age. What is that spiritual point? That we are always going to live this life more successfully when we are Heavenly minded.
Romans 8:5-6 refers to this Heavenly mindedness as being “spiritually minded.” It states that there is life and peace in a spirit-focused mindset. Would you like more peace in your life? The solution to multiplied peace is an increase in spiritual awareness in our everyday lives. With that being the case, what does becoming more spiritually minded involve? Well, one of the most basic ways to get and stay spiritually minded is to understand that we are spirit beings, and then to live our lives from this perspective.
Friends, the Scriptures teach that we are spirit beings. Read Genesis 1:26-27 and John 4:24 and put two and two together. Sure, we are human beings, but human beings are at their core, spirit beings. The “real” you and me are spirit beings that reside inside bodies. Proverbs 20:27 talks about how this spirit of man dwells inside these physical bodies and I Thessalonians 5:23 declares the full triune nature of the human being as spirit, soul and body.
Man is a spirit that possesses a soul and lives in a body. What’s more, that’s the order of importance in the constitution of man. Why? Once these bodies cease to function our eternal spirits either ascend to Heaven or descend to Hell. It’s the spirit of our being that is reborn or recreated when we receive our salvation by faith in Jesus (John 3). It is the spirit of the human constitution that is connected to God through the Holy Spirit. It stands to reason that the part of us that is everlasting and that has a direct connection to God would be the most important part of who we are, right? At least it should be, and it should also be the part of ourselves we focus the most attention on.
So, why does this focus on the spiritual part of man matter? Well, when we are always aware that we are spirit beings, not bodies, not minds, we begin to embrace the things of the spirit more completely. We value that realm more. We see and hear things of a spiritual nature more freely. Our “walk” becomes one of the spirit, and we spend more time investing in that nature and realm.
The benefit? The spirit realm is where God and His goodness dwell. All our needs are met in this place (Philippians 4:19). Also, when we live more engaged in the spirit realm, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh as readily. In other words, we will live a cleaner life.
Brothers and sisters, let us remind ourselves daily that we are not a body, and we are not a brain, but that we are spirits made in the image of God. Let us gain a better understanding of that nature and know that place as well or better than this earthly one. Let us embrace the Heavenly as our true home. The place of our native tongue. The place where we are most comfortable.
Greg Crum is the pastor at Calvary Temple in Lovely.