Live with a “things above” perspective

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Live like it’s true”

Our Bible verse for today: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:2-3

Our thought for today: “Live with a “things above” perspective”

Do you sometimes get tunnel vision? I do. We all do. It’s so easy to get caught-up in the issues of life. When that happens, our vision narrows and moves everything else in life to the periphery and into the shadows. The situation or issue we’re focused on then takes on outsized proportions in our perspective and it can seem to us to be the most important thing in the world at that moment, when in fact, it isn’t. But we have tunnel vision and therefore our perspective is skewed.

We can get tunnel vision for many reasons and about many things. A relationship problem in our home can become all-consuming and we find ourselves unable to think about anything else. Financial problems can have a similar effect on us. Some people become obsessed with and consumed by their job to the exclusion of everything else – including family. Many people today have tunnel vision with respect to politics. They are so obsessed with political issues and candidates and campaigns that they convince themselves the fate of the world hangs on the next election (it doesn’t.)

While all those things may be important and deserving of extra attention from us, if we obsess about them and get tunnel vision because of them, it will negatively impact every other area of life. This is especially problematic for Christians because when we get trapped in tunnel vision regarding the things of this life, we lose sight of the things of God. The things of the world take on outsized proportions and move the things of God to the edges and into the shadows of life.

In Colossians 3:2-3 the Apostle Paul calls us to live with what one commentator called a “things above” perspective. In other words, take a step back from the issues and situations of life, take a breath, and view the situation from 30,000 feet – from a Biblical perspective. Remember, God is sovereign over all the situations we face in life. He is aware of what’s going on, He has control over what is going on, and He has answers for what is going on.

We are never seeing any situation clearly until we are seeing it from God’s perspective, not from our own. We can avoid getting trapped in tunnel vision. We can learn to live as if our faith is true and makes a real difference in how we handle the issues of life. We can learn to live with a “things above” perspective.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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