Subjected to Frustration
Have you ever heard someone say "He is so heavenly minded he is of no earthly good?" I have known people who think this came from the Bible. Of course it didn't. In fact, the Bible says something entirely different.
“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.” (Colossians 3:2,3)
So what does it mean to "set your affection on things above"?
What it means for me is that this earthly life is pretty short so I do not put all my effort in amassing material stuff that I will leave behind. I want to focus more on the place my family and I will be AFTER death - the place where Jesus has gone to prepare for us.
"I go to prepare a place for you, and I will return for you so you can be where I am." (John 14:2-3)
The best thing we can leave behind when we exit this world is fond memories for those we leave behind, and a testimony of our hope in what comes next. Jesus, our Savior, has promised to return and raise us from death and change us into his image, so that together we can do good works in the ages to come.
For now we are both living and dying. Enjoy your time with friends and family while you can - make some good memories. But the "abundant life" to come with our loved ones will be even better - so we should set our minds more on that, especially as the "frustration" of getting older sets in.
"For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." (Romans 8:20-25)
“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.” (Colossians 3:2,3)
So what does it mean to "set your affection on things above"?
What it means for me is that this earthly life is pretty short so I do not put all my effort in amassing material stuff that I will leave behind. I want to focus more on the place my family and I will be AFTER death - the place where Jesus has gone to prepare for us.
"I go to prepare a place for you, and I will return for you so you can be where I am." (John 14:2-3)
The best thing we can leave behind when we exit this world is fond memories for those we leave behind, and a testimony of our hope in what comes next. Jesus, our Savior, has promised to return and raise us from death and change us into his image, so that together we can do good works in the ages to come.
"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works..." (Ephesians 2:4-10)
For now we are both living and dying. Enjoy your time with friends and family while you can - make some good memories. But the "abundant life" to come with our loved ones will be even better - so we should set our minds more on that, especially as the "frustration" of getting older sets in.
"For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." (Romans 8:20-25)