Thought for the day

Affections For Christ
Setting Our Lives on Things of God
Colossians 3:1 - 3

One thing that seems to always happen, in life, is that Satan puts obstacles in our way to keep us from doing what God has asked us, or has laid on our hearts, to do. I’m no different than any one person. I give you a great example of that in this thought for the day. I started doing this on a regular basis and all of sudden things changed in my life. Satan used a person, who, by the way, claims Christ, to hinder me from doing daily devotions on the way I was. I lost focus of what I needed to be doing and allowed things to take the place of this ministry. For this, I apologize to the people who have emailed me and told me how much they appreciate them and how much it helped them. I hope to get back to doing what I enjoyed so much. How do I do this? I found myself thinking about this scripture all week long, so I thought I would share them with you.
In Colossians 3:1 – 3, Paul wrote, “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. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” What a great thought for the day and everyday for that matter. As the Lord spoke to my heart, in this scripture, I began to search myself and I began to see all the things that I have allowed Satan to place in my path that have become a stumbling block in my life. Paul tells us what we should do to help us keep Christ first in our lives.

SEEK THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE.

Today’s world has people seeking everything but Christ. Think about it. I guess you can call this a pet peeve of mine, but I really admire schools that still defy the law that says that people can’t pray at school. As a football official I often see schools still praying at the game. Some schools openly pray. The announcer will pray over the speakers or you will hear students saying the model pray found in the book of Matthew. Others, however, choose to deny Christ and just have a moment of silence. I once pastored a man, who was a teacher, and claims Christ as his savior, which told me, “Bro. Ronnie, I’m glad they choose not to pray in school. This means that other can’t pray to their false gods either.” I disagreed then, just as I do now. A good example of this is found when Daniel continued to pray daily even after the law said he had to pray to an idol. He chose not to listen to them and prayed to the true and living God. Because of his choice, he was delivered from certain death. God rewarded his obedience. Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness,” (Matt. 6:33.) How can we get anywhere without seeking Christ first? We can’t! I have often said, as I still do, that we have gotten too busy for God, family, and ourselves. We have allowed things of this world to become idols in our lives. Think about it. We find things that we love and we stick more faithful to them than we do to God. We allow them to become our god in our lives. I like to officiate football and baseball, I like to fish and hunt, and I liked being a firefighter, first responder, and arson investigator. Have I ever allowed these things to become more important than God in my life? The answer to this would be a resounding yes. I’m guilty. How did I allow that to happen? I studied them more than I did about God. Now, I’m not knocking these things, because there can be a ministry in all of these areas. I still officiate, hunt, and fish at times. The fire department stuff has been taken out of my life for now. However, I try not to allow these things to get in the way of serving God. I have to keep my guard up though. I just choose not to do them when I know church is going on, or I try not to allow these things get in my way. However, I’m not successful at this all the time. I know I need to improve. How does a person improve in serving God?

SET YOU AFFECTION ON THINGS ABOVE

What does the word affection mean to you and me? When I think about it, I know my wife loves the attention I give to her when I’m affectionate. Affection means tender attachment. The Greek word for affection is ‘Phroneo, fron’ – eh’ – o.’ this definition is, to interest oneself in, with concern and obedience. In laymen’s terms, put your interest in things above. Paul continued in verse 2 with, “not on things on the earth.” When we allow things of this earth to get in the way of serving God, then we are sinning by allowing other gods to get in our way. I’ve always said you can find out what people’s interests are when you go into their house. Many times you will find out what they really spend time doing. Deer hunters, many times, will have horns mounted, heads mounted, lots of pictures, etc. Fishermen will have mounted fish, pictures, and pertinent stuff. Even dedicated firefighters will have things that pertain to that in their homes. Many times I have seen Bibles on lamp tables, scriptures in frames, and pertinent things to Christianity in houses too. You know what people do. However, a Bible on a lamp table doesn’t mean, a lot of times, as much as people might think. Is the Bible talked about as much as the deer mounts or fish mounts on the walls? Now I’m not just picking on hunting and fishing. If we allow anything to divert our attention or affection from Christ and being obedient to HIM, then we have allowed another god into our lives. Another definition for affection would be love. How much do we love God? It is shown in our lives by the way we live. If we seek Christ first then HE will be first in our lives, if not, then he won’t be first. Defining HIM in our lives and the things about HIM in our lives as Christians is the most important thing we can do.

The world may not show how important God is, and apparently, America has defined her definition of ‘one nation under god.’ It may not mean a whole lot to some, but to Christians it should be of most importance. Our affections should be set on HIM and HIS promises. It’s time for Christians to stand on the promises, which is the Rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ. May we seek Christ in all that we do and show the world how important HE is to us.