Colossians 3:1-11

T. Robertson once said, “A person has to keep his feet upon the earth, but his head in the heavens.” The stress of daily living has become a national struggle. The busy schedules of the Palm Pilot generation overwhelm. On an average day our schedules cram pack with meetings, phone calls, cell phone calls, soccer or baseball practices for the kids, school, work, and fitness work outs with personal trainers. The average person today struggles to keep his or her feet grounded on earth.

The greater challenge for a life out of balance is keeping our hearts focused toward the heavens; that is, to keep the mind balanced by the spiritual things of Christ. Is your life out of balance?

Legendary basketball coach John Wooden used to communicate to his players the importance of maintaining their balance. “Stay in your stance,” he instructed his players as he taught them to play defense. Of his great teams UCLA, he once described a goal for each of his teams: balance. He said, “To me, balance, next to love, is the most important word in our language.”

A life of balance begins with a spiritual mind, or as Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Have the mind of Christ” (Phil. 2:5-11).

Look up: Keep Seeking the Things Above (Col. 3:1-2).

Paul challenges the church to keep on seeking the “upward things.” The resurrection of Christ supplies strength for every believer to seek the heavenly things of God while here on earth. How important to understand Christ’s position at the right hand of God. How important, too, to understand that Christ does not sit as an idle bystander but as a participant in our lives, as an ever pleading intercessor for each person (Romans 8:34).

The words of Paul form a circle: Christ seeks us; we seek him; he seeks us; we seek his upward things. The Holy Spirit moves and works in the center of this circle of life.

Keep on seeking Christ by keeping him foremost in your mind (Col. 3:1). Think on him!

D. A. Carson talks about the “constant battle of temptation at the level of the thought life.” Life tips in the balance when our thoughts, priorities, and schedules exclude God. Live on the earth, but bring heaven to earth by thinking of Christ, his purpose, plan, and pattern for living. Look up!

Fill up: Christ Fills Life When We Seek Him (Col. 3:3-4).

Paul indicates that the old person has died because of Christ. Jesus fills the heart of the believer with his goodness and his glory. Christ quietly changes and fills the heart with the hidden life of God. Pascal said, “There is a God shaped vacuum that only God can fill.”