The Importance of Thinker

 

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:1-10 ESV).

 

Being born again to live in the kingdom of God calls for a dramatic shift in our thought patterns. God comes to us and says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (v. 2). But we may wonder, “If we ignore earthly things that need to be taken care of, won’t our lives just become more chaotic? Is God really telling us to quit focusing on the day-to-day matters all around us?” Setting our minds “on things above” has to do with leaving our old sinful lives behind so that we can put on the new life we are called to live in Christ.

 

This means that we change the way we think. So often we come to believe that it is our behavior that needs to be changed. And, often it does. However, the only effective means to change what we do it to change how we think. As I have often pointed out to others, thinker determines feeler, and then, feeler determines doer. When we think correctly, we feel good about doing differently.

 

Instead of living in “immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed,” we are called to show “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience,” and more. We are to live as the people of God’s kingdom. This means we regularly spend time with God, reading and studying the Bible, praying, worshiping, enjoying fellowship with other believers, learning from Christian thinkers and artists, and more. In this way our earthly lives become increasingly focused on the greater purposes and good that God has in store for us while we live for him in this world. If, however, we spend each day immersed in our old, selfish ways and in the false promises of the world, we will find ourselves drifting away from the full life God wants for us. Set your minds on things above!