Seek the things above
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.”Colossians 3:1
Reflection
What we fix the mind on shapes everything we are. Our thoughts determine our emotions, our emotions influence our decisions, and our decisions build our life. That is why Paul gives such a direct and practical command: "SEEK the things above" and "SET your affection on things above". It is not a vague suggestion to be "more spiritual" — it is a concrete instruction about where to deliberately direct our attention and our thoughts. And notice that "seek" and "set your affection" are verbs of action, of effort, of choice. The mind does not rise on its own; it needs to be directed.
Notice the problem Paul is confronting: the natural tendency of the mind to get stuck "on things on the earth". Without a conscious redirection, our thoughts gravitate downward — to worries, offenses, anxieties, futilities, earthly problems. It is like gravity pulling the mind to the ground. And the more we think of these things, the bigger they grow and the more they dominate our interior. Paul calls us to resist that mental gravity, deliberately lifting our gaze to the things above — to Christ, to eternal realities, to what truly matters.
The foundation of this command is beautiful: "IF ye then be RISEN with Christ". Paul is not asking us to think of the things above in order to become a Christian; he is saying that, BECAUSE we are already Christ’s, we belong to another reality and should live accordingly. It is like a citizen who moved countries: his heart and mind now belong to the new homeland. The Christian lives on earth, but belongs to the above — and the mind needs to be educated to live according to the place it now belongs. To seek the things above is not to flee reality; it is to remember which reality is the definitive one.
This has an immense practical power over our anxieties and sorrows. Much of our suffering comes from keeping the mind fixed exclusively "on things on the earth" — on the immediate problems, without the perspective of the eternal. When we lift our thoughts to the above — to the risen and victorious Christ, to promises that do not pass, to the glorious end of our story — the earthly problems, without vanishing, shrink to their real size. It is not to deny the problems; it is to see them in the light of a greater reality. Today, do Paul’s exercise: notice where your mind has gravitated and, deliberately, lift it. Where it is stuck "on things on the earth", direct it to the "things above, where Christ is". The mind that rises finds a peace the mind stuck to the ground never knows.
Prayer
Lord, my mind is always being pulled down — to the worries, the offenses and the anxieties of earth. Help me resist that gravity and deliberately lift my thoughts to the things above, where Christ is. Remind me that I belong to another reality. And may, as I fix my mind on You, my earthly problems find their real size. Amen.
Put it into practice
Notice today where your mind naturally "gravitates" (worries, offenses, futilities). Every time you catch your thoughts "stuck on earth", lift them deliberately: fix your mind on a truth about Christ, an eternal promise, or the glorious end of your story.
To reflect on
Where has your mind gravitated lately — "to things on the earth" or "to things above" — and how has that affected your peace?
Bible text: King James Version (public domain).