Isaiah 55; Colossians 3:1-17



• What does it mean to be heavenly minded? How then can we grow in heavenly mindedness? How do you set your mind on Christ each day?

To set one's heart on something means to desire it more than anything else, regardless of the costs. At the center of setting our hearts “on things above” is desiring a relationship with the triune God and knowing his friendship and favor. Counting ourselves as citizens of God’s kingdom moves us to live God’s way rather than by the way of the world. And dreaming of the day when we will see Jesus face to face and be able to live in perfect joy for eternity—that is what God calls us to set our hearts on.

The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). Does not Jesus assume we would normally begin the day on our knees? And significantly, before that prayer leads us to ask for daily bread, it sets our minds on things above:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

  on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9–10)

If you’re at all like me, you leave your morning devotions with a sincere desire to go on thinking of things above in the spare moments of your day. But then you regularly fill every spare moment with something else. In the car, you turn on the news. In line at the store, you check your email. Waiting for a friend, you play a game on your phone. Lying in bed, you scroll through social media. None of these activities is necessarily bad. But how often are they the reflex of a mind addicted to distraction? And what if we resolved to spend at least some of the day’s silences recalling what we read that morning, rehearsing a memorized passage, or praying to our Father in heaven?

Heavenly mindedness is an invitation to be with Jesus as much as we can, in preparation for the day when we will be with him always. 

• So begin your day with Jesus, fix your meditations upon Jesus, and retreat throughout the day to Jesus. Because “set your minds on things that are above” means, at its core, “set your minds on him.”

(Scott Hubbard, Desiring God)

Now that you’ve revealed the wicked ways within me and have walked me through repentance, allow me to encounter your goodness and love. Lord, You encourage me to come to you and seek You – to hunger and thirst for more of You.  Help me to see through Your eyes and know Your heart. Help me to encounter and know the spiritual truths that are all around me.   Help me to set my mind on you throughout my day. Let me see Your presence throughout my day as well.  Thank you Lord for being with me. - Amen.