Set Your Heart

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. Colossians 3:1

IN WORD

Perspective is a funny thing. Everyone has one, but few of us are conscious of the specifics and limitations of our own. We notice how easily the perspectives of others are skewed, but we live from ours quite naturally. It shapes everything we think, say, and do.

If a perspective can be that influential in our lives, we certainly want the best one. We want right instead of wrong, broad instead of narrow, helpful instead of harmful. In other words, we want something beyond our finite, faulty point of view. We want to see from a much higher vantage point and aim for much higher goals. We want to live from a better, truer, higher, deeper realm.

We can. As citizens of the realm of God, we are called to invest our hearts fully in His Kingdom. Everything in us—emotions, thought, attitudes, perspectives, everything—is meant to thrive in the environment of heaven rather than falter in the environment of a broken world. We are to see all of life as though we are living above, with Jesus on the throne. Instead of seeing the worst in people, we see who they are (or can be) in Christ. Instead of seeing problems, we see solutions. Instead of lamenting losses, we leverage them for gain. We are seated with Christ on the throne (Ephesians 2:6). We might as well live as if it’s true.

IN DEED

Like all human beings, you have been well-trained to live from a thoroughly human point of view. The fact that Christ is in you by faith gives you the opportunity to rise to a new perspective. You don’t have to live from a place of futility, defeat, and lamentation; you can have God’s perspective. But only if you invest your heart in whatever is above, where Jesus is, in the realm of God. You can no longer afford to set your heart on pain and brokenness, or even on any goals less than eternal, beautiful, and good. An entirely new realm is offered to you. Live in it fully.