Keeping Christ in the New Year, All Year

Colossians 3:2 - "Set your affections on things above, not things on Earth."

I hope you had a good Christmas. It is always a blessing to fellowship with family and friends, many of whom we may only see at this time of year. It's also nice to get gifts! I got a new vacuum sealer that I'm just tickled about. However, I hope you remembered what Christmas is truly about and kept Christ in CHRISTmas this year.

As always during this time, our focus shifts to the upcoming year. New year's resolutions, new plans, and even new jobs are the focal point of our lives now. I know personally that one of my New Year's resolutions is to kill a mature buck or two before the season ends (end of January) here in Mississippi. Nothing is wrong with these resolutions, goals, or plans you make. However, we must be careful not to allow the things and doings of life become our life's focus.

Again we look to the book of Colossians, where Paul tells us simply what our focus should be on as followers of Christ. He says to focus our lives on things above, heavenly things. These are the things and doings of life that bring our Lord honor and glory. He is telling us to focus through our selfishness of self and concentrate on the Savior. Focus through the materialism of the man and concentrate on the Master. It is just like looking at a buck through a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope. We want to check him out good to see if he is a shooter or not. There is a lot of distance between you and him, as well as some brush and possibly fog. We have to turn the focusing dial perfectly to concentrate on our target. That is what Paul is explaining in this verse. Focus through the fogginess and filthiness of the world, and though our heavenly prize may seem far away, it will come clearly into view. This is how our affection should be set on the Lord. It is like when you realized the buck you focused on turned out to be the buck of a lifetime. You set tour crosshairs and pulled the trigger. Your full attention, your full focus, and your full affection were on that deer, and now you can claim your prize. We can enjoy so much from heaven now if we just focus on the things above and set our affections on Jesus.

So throughout this year, remember to keep Christ in this New Year, and all year!

Here is the other part of the compare/contrast outline I gave you 2 weeks ago:

II. Set Your Affections on What You Find
A. Set your affections on the world
1. Life is short, "live it up."
2. Be one step ahead of the "Jones'", the more you have the happier you are.
B. Set your affections on God.
1. Life is eternal, "Live it Up!"
2. See life as God sees it, we then will live in harmony with Him. "Don't become too attached to what is only temporary. "

God Bless and Happy Hunting!

Posted by Mark Newell