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Seeking Things Above
Col. 3:1 - "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God."
Paul did a masterful job emphasizing the pre-eminence of Jesus when he wrote to the Christians in Colossea! The letter is clearly focused on Christ, and is filled with praise for who Christ is and what he has done.
At the beginning of the third chapter Paul reminded those first century Christians that since they had been spiritually raised with Christ, their victorious and reigning king, they should have had a new desire to see his will accomplished in their lives and in the lives of those around them.
Think about small children who love their parents. When they love and appreciate their parents, they quickly and enthusiastically respond to the ideas and requests given to them. Their desire is to please their parents. In a similar way, as citizens of our reigning Lord's kingdom, we should seek to discover what his will is and follow through by expending our energy to accomplish it. As we explain to others whose will we are seeking we are given opportunities to bring him glory!
Surrendering our will to Christ will be difficult at times. Even Christ struggled with submitting to the will of God, especially the night of his betrayal in Gethsemane. But in that moment Christ gave us a powerful example of seeking things above when he turned to God in prayer time and time again. Noticed one poets' attempt to personalize Christ's example in that prayer (shared by David McIntyre in "The Hidden Life of Prayer).
"Lord, here I hold within my trembling hand,
This will of mine - a thing which seemeth small;
And only thou, O Christ, canst understand
How, when I yield thee this, I yield mine all.
"It hath been wet with tears, and stained with sighs,
Clenched in my grasp till beauty hath it none;
Now, from thy footstool where it prostrate lies
Thy prayer ascendeth, Let thy will be done."
Instead of seeking and accomplishing our will, as people who have been raised with him let us seek and accomplish Christ's will! Learning to humbly surrender our will is difficult, but if we truly acknowledge Christ as our risen Lord we are called to no less. As risen people, let us seek the will of our reigning Lord and glorify him!
Jeremy Dehut
