“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Colossians 3:1-2
Paul is not saying, “Think about heaven! Think about streets of gold! Set your mind on your loved ones in the clouds!” He is encouraging you to think and act in ways that reflect the risen life of the Age to Come. Really?
The way of Jesus is participatory. You have died with Christ to your old way of living and you have been raised with Christ to a new way of living (Col 2:12). Your new life is wired to track, reflect, and act on what’s going down in the throne room. This new connection to the control room opens up a sweeping change of perspective! The way of Jesus is participatory.
What is the one who reigns at the right hand of God doing now? How do you participate?
Such mind-blowing questions require two things: continuous pursuit (“seek”) and a singular mindset (“set”) that is grounded in heaven’s throne room (“where Christ is seated”). It will do a number on your brain. The things you seek in life and the desires that drive you will change at the deepest level of your being.
“[Jesus] is, at the moment, present with us,” says NT Wright, “but hidden behind that invisible veil which keeps heaven and earth apart, and which we pierce in those moments, such as prayer, the sacraments, the reading of scripture, and our work with the poor, when the veil seems particularly thin. But one day the veil will be lifted; earth and heaven will be one; Jesus will be personally present, and every knee shall bow at his name; creation will be renewed; the dead will be raised; and God’s new world will at last be in place, full of new prospects and possibilities.”
