Ouachita Stories

College is exciting! It is a fun time of making new friends, sleeping too little, and hopefully studying things that you actually care to learn about. Though there are many parts of college that are fun and exciting, it is still life, and not without its challenges. On most campuses it doesn’t take long to realize that the natural God-given talents—that so recently carried you through high school—no longer exhibit the same head-turning attention that you anticipated. Compared to high school, your teammates are stronger and faster. Your classmates are focused and smarter. There are many great singers who can sing high and loud, and everybody can play guitar. Yes, everyone.

This can be a difficult realization. It is easy to trap ourselves in discouraging thoughts of unwarranted negative self-criticism. Likewise, it is easy to forget our identity as we place our significance in ourselves and our talents.

The first-century church in Colossae was also undergoing an identity crisis. The church was attempting to blend Christianity with philosophies and theologies that were inconsistent with the gospel of Christ and the guidance of early church leaders. It was to this church that Paul wrote a reminder of Christ’s significance in the life of believers.

  

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

There is no doubt that Paul believed there is a specific relationship between believers and Christ. In fact, all three times that the church is the subject of the sentence it is given identity by its security in Christ. This should be encouraging! Paul does not say: “Since, then, you run faster than everyone else . . . ” or “When classes, which are your life . . . ” Instead Paul emphasizes our foundation in Jesus’ redemption of our lives. While it is comforting to know that our earthly qualities (and lack thereof) are irrelevant when compared to the glory of Christ’s work in our lives, this comfort does not come without a command.

Paul wasn’t just yammering on when he commanded us to set both our hearts and minds on things above. Our identity in Christ is not the focal point of this passage; rather it’s the groundwork for Paul’s instructions. It is because we are alive in Christ that we seek to live like Jesus. Because Christ is our life, we no longer engulf our minds and hearts in our strengths and talents. It is easy to seek the things we love or even the things that we “feel called to do,” but our loves and our “callings” should never be in opposition or put ahead of what we have been commanded to do. The world can survive without the next T. Swift, Kobe Bryant, and Mark Cuban; but it will not survive without the good news of Jesus Christ. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above.”

--by David Willhite

For more devotions like this, come to the CM office for a free copy of our 30-day devotional written by faculty, staff, and students. Or get the ebook online here.