Seeking Things Above
“So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Colossians 3:1 CSB
One of my most favorite memories of my childhood was summertime at my grandparent’s house. A few of my cousins would come over and we would spend the evening playing and running around barefoot outside until it was way past sunset, and we were told that it was time to come in. We always seemed to have a game of softball, dodgeball, or kickball going on. If it wasn’t that, then we were playing in the creek that was behind our grandparent’s house, catching lightning bugs, riding bicycles, or some other fun thing that grabbed our attention. There was always something fun to do and always someone fun to do it with. But one of my favorite things was when we played hide-and-go-seek.
My favorite part of the game was when it was my turn to hide. I would try to pick a place where no one would think to look and when I knew that whoever was doing the seeking was far enough away from the base, I would try to run with all my might to make it to base before getting tagged out. As I got older and played this favorite pastime game with my children, I remember one particular time when my kids were hiding and I was the one seeking that I felt God speak to my heart as He said, “I’m waiting – when will you come and find me?”
Dear friend, His message still echoes in my heart today. One of the things that amaze me about the love of God is that He doesn’t just throw us out when we choose everything instead of Him. He is always there, waiting to have a relationship with us. He longs for us to seek after Him the way that He seeks after us. It doesn’t matter how we have abused our relationship with Him, He is always ready to forgive us and show us true unconditional love. Wow! Our God is truly amazing!
As we begin a new year, let’s commit to making this a year where we truly seek Him just like it says in Colossians 3:1, “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” So how do we seek Him? We start with prayer and digging into the Bible. I can promise you; it will be totally worth it.
Dear God,
Thank you for never giving up on me. Your grace leaves me speechless. You are never ok with just a mediocre relationship with me and I’m so thankful for that. You constantly keep pulling me back to you because you love me so. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for never letting me go. Help me to seek you more today than I did yesterday. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Dig Deeper:
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:2 CSB
Reflection:
What is it that you struggle with the most when you think about reading or studying God’s word?
Write out a prayer to God over this area and ask for His strength in your weakness.
Resources:
If you google online reading plans/Bible Apps, you will find a plethora of options and sometimes it can feel overwhelming. Here are a few things to remember:
Pray and ask God to guide you to something that will help you develop consistency and a love for God’s word.
As you are reading the Bible, make sure to have a journal handy to write down anything that the Holy Spirit might speak to you about.
The goal is to find something that works for you and then do it.
Always remember - You won’t be perfect at it and there are some days where you will get off track, but the key is to not quit!
Here are a few of my favorites online resources that I like to have along with my Bible:
Proverbs 31 First 5 app – You can do a current study that they are working through or pick from any other study/plan over any book of the Bible within the app
The Holy Bible App – You can choose your translation and pick a reading plan to dig into (I’ve been reading through the Bible Project/Biblical Storyline Reading plan)
The Daily Grace Co. – you can choose from a variety of studies to dig into