One of my favorite phrases is “look at the big picture.” So much of our lives are spent taking care of the pressing, near-sited issues. We seem to spend a lot of time worried about the immediate. We need to learn how to zoom out and see the big picture, or the whole issue. So many problems could be avoided if we would take time to assess an issue based on where it could lead. Another significant advantage of looking at the big picture is seeing how blessed you are. Look at the world, not your little world, but the whole world, and I can assure you that you will see how God has richly blessed you.
In Colossians 3:1-4 Paul is giving us perspective on living our daily lives. In verse 1 he reminds us that if we are saved, we are in Christ, and we are to seek the things above. We are to stay focused on what our future holds for all eternity. Not the future that we plan for here on this earth, this is just a staging ground, a practice field, for the future. Our affections, the desires of our heart, should be bound up in eternal things.
When we surrender our lives to Christ and repent of our sins, the old man is buried, just as if he were a dead man. We are to become dead to sin, to worldly influences, pleasures, and ambition. Or, in other words, we are to be to them as if we were dead, and they are to have no more influence over us than the things of earth have over someone in the grave.
Colossians 3:1-4 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
So many people make poor choices, even as Christians, that will hamper what they can do in the future. Everything we do or don’t do has consequences. When deciding what to do, step back and analyze where this action can lead, not just where you think it will lead presently, but what are the possibilities, or the big picture, for the future.
I’ve heard some describe someone as being “so heavenly minded they are no earthly good,” but that is not true for a lot of people who call themselves Christians. It is the opposite. They are so earthly minded they are no heavenly good. They spend their lives seeking to pile up wealth for the here and now. While having things is not wrong, seeking them as the goal of life is wrong. If God blesses you with something, it is so you can use it to His glory. Whatever you have is His first. If it’s little or much, it belongs to him. I have found that lives lived using their resources to minister to others always seem to have more resources. Why? Because their focus is on the big picture and God blesses them. Our thoughts and aspirations determine our actions. Paul wants us to understand the believer should develop a determination to look at life from Christ’s exalted standpoint.
Our identity is not in what we have here. Our identity should be wrapped up in who we are in Christ. Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 6:33, we are to seek Him first. To seek is to diligently pursue as if everything depends on finding what you are seeking. Instead of seeking all the pleasures and goods of this earth, we are to seek Christ, to set our affections on the things that Christ values. The only way to do that is to seek him first. In seeking Him we will find out what He values.
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
We are to seek the lost in Matthew 18:12. Those on their way to hell should be our greatest concern. Telling others about Christ, and seeking to live to show them Christ, represents things above.
Matthew 18:12 “How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? ”
We are to seek godly fruit in our lives. This is evidence of who is on the throne of our lives, ourselves or Christ.
Luke 13:7 “Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?”
We are to seek excellence in our walk. Not what is considered “ok” by the world or other Christians, but what is acceptable to God. God expects us to seek to be the very best we can be for Him.
I Corinthians 14:12 “Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.”
We are to seek peace. We are to seek that which is good and turn away from any evil.
I Peter 3:11 “Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.”
While we wait for the appearing of Christ or the end of our earthly life, we are to be busy seeking to please Christ in all we do. We are to keep our focus on the big picture. What will last forever is all that really matters.
