I've Lost My Earthly Mind

Take 60 seconds and stare at the four black dots in the center of the image.  After 60 seconds quickly look away and blink your eyes a few times as you look at something light or white in color.  If we set our eyes in the right spot and in the right spot for a long enough time we should see what appears to be an image of Jase Roberston from “Duck Dynasty”.  No, it’s not Jase.  An image of Jesus Christ will remain “burned” into our vision for a short period of time.  The image of Jesus eventually fades and disappears.  In order for the image of Jesus to remain in our vision we would need to frequently re-set our eyes on the image.  This exercise is a good example of who we need to set our minds on if we are going to “lose our earthly mind.”

 

READ:  Colossians 3:1-9

 

There are many “things” that are “above” in heaven (ie God, the throne, elders, living creatures with lots of eyes, etc, Rev. 7), but there is only One that we need to set our minds on in order to “lose our earthly mind.”  In order to lose our earthly minds we must set our minds on JESUS CHRIST!  “Losing our earthly mind” is not so much stopping thinking about things on the earth as it is setting our minds on Jesus Christ.  How do we lose our earthly minds?

 

1.      Continuously allow our mind to dwell on THINGS ABOVE (vs 1) – There are two imperatives Paul uses to tell us how our minds need to be focused instead of earthly things.  The first one is the word “seek” which means, “to desire” or “to want”.  The second word translated “set your minds on” means, “to keep on giving serious consideration to something”, “to ponder”, “to let one’s mind dwell on”, “to keep thinking about”, and “to fix one’s attention on.”  Jesus said to His disciples in John 8:23, “I am from above”.  We should want to spend time contemplating Jesus Christ and the things of heaven!  The moment we pause or stop setting our mind on Jesus He will begin to fade in our thinking to a point where we don’t see Him anymore.  But the more we turn our eyes upon Jesus (set our minds on Him), and look full in His wonderful face the more the “things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” Sound familiar?

 

2.      Don’t allow our mind to dwell EARTHLY things (vs 2) – Paul says very clearly that we are not to set our minds on the things of this earth.  What are those things on this earth that easily capture our thinking and attention?  Money/possessions, popularity/fame, success/accomplishment, fun/entertainment, me/myself/I, . . . what do we think about the most?  Do they fit into any of these categories?  There are an infinite amount of earthly things that our minds can be preoccupied with and distracted by.  None of these things are “sinful” necessarily but can easily replace the desire we should have for things above.  If we find ourselves wanting these things and thinking more about these things on earth instead of God and His purpose and plan for our lives we may still have not lost our mind.

3.      Put our earthly thinking to DEATH (vs 5) – If there are things that need to be put to death in our lives, they are those things that are purely earthly desires and attachments.  Paul gives 11 specific examples in Col. 3:5-7 of earthly things that not only need to be eliminated from our lives and therefore our thinking.  As we look at those examples, the first thing many of us need to do is change our thinking about some of the ways we are acting.  We will not stop doing any of these earthly things if we do not think that they are sin! Secondly, even if we think something is sinful, that does not mean we won’t be tempted by it, and so we need to stop dwelling on it and thinking about it so we do not act out in sin.  Only when we put to death thoughts about things on earth will our actions and lives begin to be transformed.

What happens to those whose minds remain set on earthly things?  READ:  Philippians 3:18-19.  If our minds remain focused on the things of earth we become ENEMIES of God!  By thinking and therefore behaving in a worldly way we are fighting against God.  If we want to become an ally with God rather than an enemy we need to “LOSE OUR EARTHLY MIND”!!!