SCRIPTURE: Colossians 3
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. [Colossians 3:1-2]
In this passage, Paul is speaking about our core commitment or focus: may you be driven by something beyond this world, may you be motivated by Jesus, Lord of the Universe, and all that He has in mind for you.
This includes the kind of life, the kind of joy, the kind of morality, the kind of attitude, etc., that will characterize life with Jesus in the forever kingdom.
For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. [Colossians 3:3-4 (NLT)
By committing to Jesus, we have ‘died to’ (or been released from) the desperate attachment to stuff and things and “me”, the attachment that is killing people anyway.
Now we find life, joy, peace, hope, contentment in Jesus and in God, and in all they represent.
To borrow an analogy from C.S.Lewis, we are like children no longer excited about our little sandbox because we have been promised a day at the beach, a forever day!

So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [Matthew 6:31-33]
Jesus is not saying we do not have to eat or wear clothes; He is urging us not to get wrapped up in these things.
These “little sandbox” things dominate the minds of unbelievers because that is all they see; and they are never satisfied – nor should they be, for they were made for so much more than this!
Jesus is also speaking about our core commitment or focus, the things that drive and motivate us.
When we make God and Jesus and life in/with them our primary focus, then all the other stuff returns to its rightful place, becomes what it was supposed to be.
When God was our hope and strength, then we could enjoy things without worrying about them; but when we lost God, we suddenly became desperate and now grasp to things to make us feel secure and significant.
But “things” cannot do what only God can do; the “things of earth” cannot fill the God void within.
As long as we stress and worry on our own, we will never be satisfied.

Paul describes the two ways of living in this chapter.
Why do people lie, cheat and steal? Why are sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed a problem? Why do husbands and wives mistreat one another, parents abuse children, employers take advantage of workers, and so on?
Because our sinful nature (i.e. our hearts without God) desperately strive, cling or fight to fill the void within.
We greedily cling to what we have, and desperately claw for more.
We are like children in a little sandbox, fighting over the few toys and ‘our space’, ignorant of the fact that God has in mind a whole beach with all the toys we will ever need.
Stop it, says Paul, put that behaviour to death, it is childless and pointless.
Invest in the things that matter (love, loyalty, honour, peace, integrity, respect, etc. (the Jesus life, the life of God’s kingdom and righteousness), and leave the rest to God, He will take care of it.

I guess the application question for us today is, what are the things that dominate our thoughts?
What are we hanging on to for meaning, purpose, happiness?

PRAYER:
Lord, at times I can be dominated by “little sandbox” things. But I need help to focus on what really matters. May Your Spirit help me to be dominated by eternal treasures, eternal matters.