Sep 25, 2019
By Pastor Scott Hausrath
North Loup SDB Church, NE
I’m sure you all know the “church” answer to this question: “Why, Pastor Scott, of course our character is so much more important than our circumstances. Why would you even ask such an obvious question?”
I think I’m asking the question more for my own sake than for anyone else’s. You see, I tend to forget this truth. I tend to focus more on my circumstances and less on my character, which seems to be the opposite of what God does.
This leads me to ask the follow-up question: How can I get my priorities more aligned with God’s? I think there are many practical ways to do this, but all of them depend on a foundational truth: Our life has been radically changed. Once we trust Jesus as the One who died on that cross for our sins, once we bow our knee to Him as our Savior, our Lord, we are given a new citizenship. Colossians 1:13-14 says that God “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Though our physical location has not changed, our spiritual location has. We are now citizens of God’s kingdom.
Colossians 3:1-3 fleshes this out a bit more: “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. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” It’s one thing to say that our life has been radically changed, but it actually goes beyond that. Our old life has ended, and we’ve begun a new life. Just like Jesus, we have died and have been resurrected.
If it’s true that our life is now hidden with Christ, then it doesn’t make sense to focus on the things of this world, cuz that’s no longer “where we live.” Paul says that we’ve been raised with Christ.
But there’s even another layer of chewy goodness in all of this, as seen in the next verse, Colossians 3:4: “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Not only is our new life hidden with Christ, but Paul says that Christ “is” our life. The very essence of our being is wrapped around the person of Jesus Christ.
Once we begin to understand—and accept—that Jesus is our life, I think we’ll start changing our priorities, bringing them more in line with God’s priorities. Then we’ll begin to focus less on our circumstances and more on our character.
Sharing the journey,
Pastor Scott