For some reason, I am overwhelmed by Colossians 3 and lacking focus. It strikes me as a mother sending her son off on a trip. "Remember this....OH! And, don't forget that!"
Then, also, it is all so important....
I figure I may be in this chapter for a while.
So, let's get started. Focus. Focus.
Paul actually begins with talking about focus and about priorities. Life is like a huge banquet of food choices (I was into the food thing yesterday...looks like I have not left...). We get to choose what we put on our plates. We had better choose well, if we want to be healthy, and of course, this goes for both the physical and the spiritual realms.
1Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.2Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, 3for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:1-3 (NET)
Keep seeking the things that are above. Choose this. Don't choose that. Seek this. Don't seek that.
Keep thinking about this, not about that. Olympians aren't the only ones who make critical choices all the time. We all do. It's just that some of us choose better than others, more often! It seems like, every day, we hear more and more stories of our fellow men and women who chose heartbreak. Perhaps that is why we love the Olympics so much!
Paul shows us the motivation for making holy choices: because we have made the choice to surrender Christ's lordship, to live for Him, which requires dying to ourselves. Paul talks about this in many of his letters. When we accept Jesus' offer of salvation, our lives are then hidden with Christ in God.
What does this mean?
Again, verse 3 speaks of a finality, a "done deal". Dying is pretty final. So, when Paul uses the euphemism of "dying" to self, in one sense it connotes a final transaction, forever sealed and sure.
In another sense, Paul speaks of "dying daily" to the old nature's desires and wants, and this is why he admonishes the Colossians to "dwell on" (in some translations) righteous things.
In another layer of meaning, I love how there is a layer of protection and safe-keeping implied here, not that God will protect His children from all pain or trouble or stress, but that, in the final analysis we are His, and He is ours, forever. One day, when we move into His presence eternally, all such heartache will end.
The fact that Christians are "hidden with Christ in God" does NOT mean that we should hide our faith, or only trot it out during trying circumstances. Jesus proclaimed that "a city set on a hill cannot be hid". If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit will most definitely shine forth through you!
Currently, the 2016 Olympics are taking place, with millions watching on television. And, the first black American woman to win a gold medal for swimming is a Christian. She doesn't hide it either. When Simone Manuel of Texas won her Olympic spot, after being deemed a "long shot", she tweeted out on Twitter: "All glory to God! Isn't he awesome?" Other 2016 Olympians who are Christians and not shy about it include: Maya DiRado, who said, "My faith frees me to dream big!" and who also medaled for the United States, and David Boudia, who is already a gold medal winner from 2012, but just won the silver a few days ago for synchronized diving. David has a book coming out soon: Greater than Gold: From Olympic Heartbreak to Ultimate Redemption. 1
What marvelous examples of not hiding one's faith, but instead living it out gloriously! Many in the world will say, "How do they do it? What incredible force is at work in them to account for this seemingly superhuman performance? What is their secret?" To that extent, the Christian's life is "hidden with Christ in God". Jesus Christ, a relationship with Him, is the secret, the best secret, a secret ... better than gold!
Source:
1 http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/august-web-only/meet-rio-olympians-who-put-god-before-gold.html
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