It seemed strangely appropriate that I was drawn to these two pictures of clocks. Has it really been two years since we visited Vicenza and so many other places with the Musical Mission Team? More importantly, has it really been 6 years since Tim and I got married?

Ok, sometimes I succumb. But most of the time, I remember that there’s no way I’ll remember a resolution for a whole year, much less keep it.

This year, I made a January resolution. I’m calling it that because it only applies to January. February 1, it’s off (unless I decide to convert it into a February resolution). The January resolution is: get up at 6 am every morning. So far, so good. It helps that Tim is doing it with me, and that we bought a sunrise alarm clock.

A new year is a great time for new lessons, and I want to share a sermon that God is using to teach me more about living for Him. John Dodd preached “Who Lives the Christian Life?” from Romans 6 at Hampton Park on January 2, 2011. I’m still trying to understand Romans 6, but remembering that I am dead to sin and alive in Christ has been very helpful these first two weeks of January.

Injustice bothers me. I’ll see people who seem to get away with terrible things, and suffer no consequences. Sometimes, my sense of injustice makes it hard for me to function. I’ll become obsessed with an unjust situation, and find it hard to think about anything else.

When I read this passage last night, I thought, “This is injustice.” We rebelled against God, and then rejected the One He sent to save us. We killed the Author of Life. Justice demands punishment. God did satisfy His own justice, but not by punishing us. God showed mercy to mankind and to me personally. He let me live and allowed me to see what Christ was really for.

We killed the Author of Life, but that didn’t stop Him from His purpose. Still, He gives us life.

God maintains perfect control over history. He has orchestrated complicated events and movements that we can’t understand, and He has done it for thousands of years. He was there before history began, and when it is over, He will still be there. Why do we ever doubt that He controls the events of our lives, too?

Here’s the passage:

“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.” (Colossians 3:1-4 ESV)

How do we seek things that are above? I’m assuming that this is talking about aligning our priorities with God’s.  Seeking things above would be pursuing things that have eternal value. It would be valuing things that God values. It would involve giving time, attention, and effort to heavenly things.

The problem is, there are so many earthly things that demand my attention. Of course, Colossians also says that “whatever you do,” you should do “heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (3:23). So I don’t think that seeking things above means that we must pray all of the time, and eat dry bread and water. Many things could be done to God’s glory.

But, there are way more possible things-to-do than there is time to do them. So how do I know if I am seeking the things above? Verse 2 says that I should “set [my] mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” I need to deliberately think about heavenly stuff! I think this could refer to having a specific time to read my Bible and pray, but also could refer to deliberately training my mind to see things from God’s perspective. Instead of just deciding what I want to do with my spare time, I should ask for direction about how I can best glorify God with that time. Instead of worrying about some difficult circumstance, I can ask God to help me grow and to glorify Him through the situation.

As I read and thought about this, I honestly thought, “I’m not that kind of person.” There is no way that I can live my life seeing things from God’s perspective, and constantly trying to please Him. I’m distractible. I’m selfish. I’m sinful.

But the old me is dead. I was all of those things, but I don’t have to be anymore. Christ has paid for my sin, and He gives me power to be like Him. I won’t be perfect until I’m in heaven, but I can begin to have the mind of Christ now. I need to be like the athlete who works hard to train for an event even though that event is so far away (in time and distance) that she can hardly imagine it. Even though she can hardly imagine the competition, she lives her life with competition priorities. And even though I can hardly imagine heaven, I can live my life with heavenly priorities.

There’s the t-shirt that says, “Soccer is my life” (or chess, volleyball, music . . . you fill in the blank).

Then there’s the picture of the cat that says, “Sleeping is my life. The amount of sleep I require is one more hour.”

What defines your life?

I just looked on Facebook, and found flair stating that acting, art, ballet, basketball, gymnastics, music, softball, Twilight, volleyball and writing were all life.

Even though I know it’s an idiom, I kind of wince inwardly when I see things like that. I know that these people just mean, “I am obsessed with _______.” Or, “I spend a LOT of time doing ______.” But still, these things aren’t life. And really, is that how they want to be identified? “Hello. Softball is my life. Don’t ask about my family or my favorite food or my best friend or my dog. My name is irrelevant. Just call me #15. That’s my softball number.”

I think I’ve taken my point far enough. I’m thinking about this because of a Bible passage I read this morning.

Colossians 3:1-4 says,

“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.” (ESV)

Before I go any further, let me say that I do not think that the phrase “When Christ, who is your life . . .” is the same thing as “softball is my life.” I don’t think that because 1) Paul was writing in Greek, and the “is my life” phrase is an English idiom and 2) this is in the context of being resurrected. So I think that Paul is actually referring to the fact that Christ provided spiritual and eternal life for us through His death on the cross. It’s also fair to note that Christ created all things, so He is our life[-giver] in the sense that He gave us literal, physical life.

Hopefully I’ve sufficiently established that I am not reading my idioms into a translation. Having said that, seeing the phrase reminded me of the idiom, and got me thinking about the way things should be.

When people say that something is their life, there are usually several associated ideas.

1) They devote a lot of time, money, effort, and attention to that thing, person, skill or activity.

Well, shouldn’t this be true of Christians? Shouldn’t we devote as much time, money, effort, and attention as we can to serving, loving, and following Christ?

2) This thing is a large part of their identity.

Well, isn’t my identity as a Christian, as a forgiven child of God, and as an ambassador for Christ much more important than my sex, race, or hobbies?

3) They make choices to give up other things so that they can devote themselves to this thing.

Sports players can’t watch tv in the afternoons because they have practice. Musicians have rehearsals.  They sacrifice for the things they love. Shouldn’t Christians love Christ and choose to give for Him much more than we would give for a sport, music, or some other hobby?

That, in my opinion, is how things should be. If I’m going to say that anything is my life, it should be Christ. But the truth is that I get distracted (obsessed?) with lots of other things. And before I know it, I’m not spending much time or effort on being a Christian. I’m not sacrificing to be a Christian. I’m identifying myself as many things, but rarely as a Christian.

What can I do about this problem? And what can you do, if you have it? I think this post is too long already, so for now I’ll just say that I think the passage tells us what to do, and I’ll try to write about that soon.

In the preface he says,

“Here is the core of comfort in the message of Job: beyond suffering, past our pain and loss, is a God Who is not only all-knowing and omnipotent, sovereign and free to do as He chooses but also always good and just, loving and wise, purposeful and perfect in all that He chooses to do or to allow–and intimately aware of all its effects on us. In a word, God is always sovereign, God is always benevolent and ultimately God always rewards (both evil and good). But He is the center of all life, not we.” (xi-xii)

When I was a little girl, my behavior prompted my mom to remind me that I was not the center of the universe. A reminder like that seems unnecessary, even silly at first glance. Of course we’re not the center of the universe. What kind of delusional person would think that?

Yet, when I walk around thinking only of myself, what pleases me, and how the events of the universe relate to me, I am acting as though I think I’m the center, whether I give intellectual assent to that idea or not. Instead, I should be thinking about how I can align myself with the true Center (i.e., how can I obey God today?).

Job 28:12-13, 23, 28

How often I around looking for complicated solutions to life, when God wants me to focus on the simple (though often difficult) things. Fear God. Avoid sin. How simple! Now if I could just do it.