Coming To Love The Things That Endure
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Colossians 3:1
In Colossians 3 Paul introduced the subject of practical Christian living by telling his readers to look to Christ. Later in the same chapter, he summed up the Christian’s earthly life this way: “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17).
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Peter Marshall, former chaplain of the United States Senate, prayed this prayer for heavenly perspective in the midst of earthly pursuits.
WALK WITH PETER MARSHALL
“There awaits just behind the curtain a life that will never end, a life of beauty and peace and love, a life of reunion with loved ones, a life to be lived in the very presence of God.
“There will be no more pain, no more sorrow, nor tears, nor crying, nor parting, nor death after death. Age shall not weary them, nor the years erode. We shall enter into that for which we were created. It shall be the journey’s end for the heart and all its hopes.
“And yet there are those among us whose actions—let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die—suggest that they believe in no better hereafter.
“There never was a time when the conviction of immortality was more needed than in this day when materialism has so exalted present life as to make it all-important.”
WALK CLOSER TO GOD
The Christian life, as Paul described it, is an “off and on” experience (see Colossians 3:8-10).
We put off the deeds of anger, lying and idolatry—behavior unbecoming a child of God—and put on the qualities of kindness, patience and love.
Like a change of clothing, this involves exchanging the soiled conduct of the world for the holy garments of heavenly living.
Putting on Christ. It’s a wardrobe that will never go out of style.
