COLOSSIANS 3:1-7

FOCUS! PAY ATTENTION!

Colossians 3:1 Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

SUSIE: “If” in the KJV should be translated “since.” When we surrendered our lives to Jesus, we died to ourselves and were resurrected in Him. His death and resurrection became ours. 

SUSAN: Since we have been raised to new life, our desire for earthly things should be no more. Our desires are being transformed toward the things of God and Heaven. 

SUSIE: There is no such thing as “being so heavenly minded you are no earthly good.” When we are focused on the will of God, on the things of Heaven, we are more effective witnesses for Christ on earth. 

SUSAN: While we live in our earth-suits, there will be struggles with earthly things; but when we are focused on Jesus and submitted to His will, He enables us to overcome these and live victoriously as His ambassadors. Our Commander in Chief’s battle position is sitting on the throne at the right-hand of God as chief intercessor and advocate for His sons and daughters, those who have trusted in Him. As long as we are taking orders from the Head of this army—this body of believers—we will live victoriously. 

SUSIE: The right-hand is the seat of power and authority. Jesus is Lord of all, and we have access to Him through prayer at all times! Hallelujah!

ACTIVITY: While on earth, we must “take care of business” related to our lives here. However, our focus can become skewed to having more attention on the daily grind and less on the Lord. This results in stress. Take a few moments to reflect on your week. What portion of time was spent on stressing over finances, incomplete projects, the messy state of your home, etc. What portion of your time was spent in Bible study, prayer, worship, and positive “familyship” time with another believer? Make an effort this week to give Jesus a bigger piece of the pie chart of daily life.

Colossians 3:2  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

SUSAN: Aim your affections vertically toward God. Concentrate on the eternal rather than the temporal.

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:9 (BSB)

SUSAN: It is not enough hear or read the Word or to even know it well. We must put it into practice. Exposure is not enough. Focusing on the Lord, on His word, must lead to obedience. Obedience will lead to God’s peace in our lives.

SUSIE: We need to focus our thoughts on Jesus and not on the cares of this world.  That does not mean to be irresponsible about our finances . . .

SUSAN: . . .  or the needs of our family or friends. 

SUSIE: However, we need to trust Jesus in all things and expend our energies in serving Him. The only treasure we can take with us to Heaven are those who come with us by our witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus. The only lasting “fruit” of our lives are the things done in the name of God and according to His will.

. . . but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:20-21 (NKJV)

What will last for eternity? Not your car, house, degrees, trophies, or business. What will last for eternity is every service to the needy, every dollar given to feed the hungry, every cup of cold water given to the thirsty, every investment in missions, every prayer for the needy, every effort invested in evangelism, and every moment spent caring for precious children—including rocking them to sleep and changing their diapers. The Bible says we’ll reap in eternity what we’ve planted in this life (Galatians 6:7-8)

Heaven, Randy Alcorn

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap. 8 For the one who sows to his flesh [his sinful capacity, his worldliness, his disgraceful impulses] will reap from the flesh ruin and destruction, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Galatians 6:7-8 (AMP)

Colossians 3:3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

SUSAN: When we look at the world from God’s perspective, we are dead to sin but alive in Christ. We are no long held captive by sin but have a choice to live righteously.

What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?

Romans 6:1-2 (BSB)

SUSIE: We were dead IN sin, but Jesus made us alive in Him. Now we are dead TO sin and safe in the bosom of Jesus. I love the old song lyric, “He hideth my soul in the cleft of the Rock.” God hid Moses in a crevice in the rock before He passed by so that He would not die from seeing God’s glory.

WORSHIP ACTIVITY: You can listen to and maybe sing along with Guy Penrod singing Fanny Crosby’s hymn here:

And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

Exodus 33:22 (KJV)

SUSIE: We are hidden in Christ who is our Rock. I wonder if Moses was truly hidden in Jesus? Something to think about. At any rate, we are hidden, sheltered, protected in Christ. We are eternally secure: we cannot lose our salvation.

My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

John 10:27-30 (BSB)

PICTURE THIS: You are hidden in Christ. The two of you are hidden in the Father. Like a baby is inside the womb which is inside the mother, you are in Christ who is in the Father. Even though as an adult you are living in the dangerous world outside your mother, if you belong to Jesus, you are safer than ever. You are in His great, invisible hand and then surrounded by the invisible hand of the Almighty God. No need to fret! (Susie: Preaching to myself here as I have battled with stress off and on most of my adult life.)

Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

SUSIE: Apart from Jesus, we were dead people walking. He IS our life, our source. 

SUSAN: The Christian life is a process—a journey— to be more like Christ. The process won’t be complete until we see Christ face to face. The moment Christ appears at His second coming, He will receive all believers home with Him, in the place He has made ready and beautiful for His bride, the church, the Messianic community.

Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.

I John 3:2

PONDER THIS: A person on death row in prison is sometimes called a “dead man walking” viewing them as already dead since they will never really be allowed to enjoy full life again. Apart from Christ, we are on death row, just biding our time here until death comes. Satan steals not only our eternal life but our ability to lead a joy-filled life while in our earth-suits. When we are in Christ, we can truly live abundantly because death is no longer a grim fate but just a door to an eternity of exhilarating, perfect life with our Savior. Hallelujah!

The thief comes only that he might steal and might kill and might destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

John 10:10 (Berean Literal Bible)

Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Colossians 3:5 (KJV)

SUSIE: Big word alert! We will let Mr. Webster help us:

CONCUPISCENCE, noun [Latin, to covet or lust after, to desire or covet.] Lust; unlawful or irregular desire of sexual pleasure. In a more general sense, the coveting of carnal things, or an irregular appetite for worldly good; inclination for unlawful enjoyments.

We know even secret concupiscence to be sin. Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence (Romans 7:8).

American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Websters ,1828.

SUSIE: We must put sinful thoughts far away from us. 

SUSAN: When our minds drift toward those thoughts, we need to hit the reject or eject button. We need to make a conscious effort daily to be dead to the desires of sin and rely on the Holy Spirit’s power to be alive to what Jesus would have us do. We do this by prayer asking Jesus to laser focus our attention on Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to reflect on memorized scripture and ask the Spirit to redirect our minds. We need to claim the mind of Christ which we are plugged into when we become His. We need to take the carnal mind out of the driver’s seat, move over, and let Jesus drive. As Carrie Underwood sang it, “Jesus, take the wheel.”

SUSIE: Jesus died to pay the price for those sins, not so we could continue wallowing in them, but to free us from them. However, this does take effort on our part to get our thoughts back on the Lord when our minds try to derail our train of thought.

You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].

Isaiah 26:3 (AMP)

QUESTION: Do you have scripture “hidden in your heart” (Psalm 119:11), in other words, memorized? The Holy Spirit will not call to mind what you have not hidden or in some translations, “treasured,” in your heart. In children’s Sunday school classes, prizes are sometimes given for being able to recite a Bible verse word for word. Maybe we need to give ourselves a prize for memorizing a verse or short passage each week. Of course, the real prize is the joy that comes from storing up invaluable treasure in our minds and hearts.

Colossians 3:6-7 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.  When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways.

SUSAN: God’s response toward sin never changes. He is consistent in His hatred and judgement of sin. Don’t fall prey to sin because one day we will stand before God. We are saved by grace only through Jesus, not our works or “goodness;” but we lose rewards if we build upon anything other than Jesus.

For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15

SUSIE: Paul points out that the Colossians lived in a sinful manner before their conversion as we all did. Anything that satisfies self—declares we have a right to ourselves at the expense of our worship of God—is sin. Since Paul was writing to believers, the church at Colossae, we know they had trusted Jesus to cleanse them from sin.

PONDER THIS: Like the Colossians, we were once dead in our sin but are now made alive in Christ. However, we continually need to monitor our thought lives to keep our minds fixed on Him. What can help us to do this? Time spent studying and internalizing the word of God and praying.

ASSIGNMENT: If you do not already have a plan for memorizing scripture, begin one. Perhaps make a chart or spreadsheet of verses you wish to hide in your heart and check them off as you have them firmly planted in your brain. Review each verse frequently to keep them at the forefront of your thoughts. Susie does this by running verses through her mind as she exercises. Don’t forget to put previously memorized verses on the spreadsheet/chart to encourage yourself with past accomplishments. Then keep moving forward!

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NASB)