Raised
We all know someone who seems to have his/her head up in the clouds. They appear to be constantly daydreaming, lost in their own thoughts without any sort of practical grasp on reality. These happy-go-lucky types don’t seem to be affected by their circumstances, while all of us “sensible” folks shake our heads and scoff at them, wondering how they can be so inattentive and impractical.
But what if these “head in the clouds” types can teach us something? What if focusing on reality actually means taking our eyes off our changing circumstances and focusing on things that never change? Things that have always been and always will be. Eternal things.
The apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians:
"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.”- Colossians 3:1-2 (NIV)
Why does Paul instruct the believers in Colossae to set their minds on things above, not on earthly things? Because they needed to understand that they were brand new people now, with a totally new life as Christians. They needed to change the way they thought. This is a key teaching because Paul repeated this same concept in his letter to the Corinthians:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
The same applies to Christians today. Though we still live in this world, we are no longer part of it. We have been changed, made brand-spanking new. We have a new citizenship in heaven, and heavenly things are where our focus needs to be.
When we allow ourselves to be weighed down by temporal things- things that won’t last or even matter in one, ten, or 100 years- we lose out on investing our time and effort in things that will last forever: eternal things like loving God and loving others, like surrendering our plans to God’s plans, like showing and telling others what a new life with Jesus is really like. It’s an abundant, full life, unlike any life this temporal earth offers.
“Raised” - Wildlife Whispers - 2025 Colored Pencil and PanPastels on Stonehenge White Paper - by Julia McFarland
So this Ostrich, with his happy, “Head in the Clouds” grin, is my reminder to you that we don’t need to let the things of this temporal earth weigh us down. If you have been raised with Christ, your future is secure. And while we still live on this earth, we can “set our minds” on things above: up in the clouds, grinning in our Savior’s abundance.