By Zach Wood
Colossians 3:1-3
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Even with all the New Year’s Resolutions people make, there is one thing people probably will not stop doing……worrying. I will be the first to admit that it is a problem I probably will not get over soon either. Any other admitters out there?? Yep, I see all those hands!
It seems we get ourselves so worked up over so many things, and later find out our worrying has done nothing but further our health problems in some way. I believe we are all way too focused on worrying about life, things that have happened and things that have not even happened yet.
In this passage, Paul urges us strongly to keep our hearts and minds focused completely on heavenly things, not earthly. When we allow ourselves to be consumed by worldly things, that is when worry truly sets in. It is so easy to allow ourselves to become concerned and burdened by the cares of this world. And there is nothing at all wrong with being concerned for people and carrying other’s burdens to help. But when we get to a point where we are doing nothing but worrying about what is going on around us, then we have taken our hearts and minds off Christ and put them on the world.
Jesus Christ asks us to cast our burdens on Him. He wants us to take everything we are dealing with and give them to Him. We have been raised with Christ and He wants to take these things off our minds and hearts so we are not bogged down by them anymore. As we have just come out of the Christmas and New Year time, it is easy to become consumed by things we got for Christmas and the various activities that have been going on. We must remember that Jesus Christ is the true reason for why we even get to do all these things in life.
Are you too consumed by worry? Take some time to take your burdens and concerns to the Lord and allow Him to lighten your load and help you to focus your mind on things above, not on the earthly matters.