You Are Dead

Colossians 3:1-4

The title for today seems kind of morbid, doesn’t it? “You are dead” is not a very encouraging way to start your day I’ll admit, but within context of the scripture, it is quite encouraging. The “old you” is gone, with all of its sins and transgressions, and the “new you” is alive through the life of Jesus Christ. When someone meets you that hasn’t seen you since your conversion, they may very well say, “You have changed. You aren’t the same person that you used to be”, take it as a compliment; for you are dead!

Just because your old man is dead does not mean that you never fail, but it does mean that when God looks at you, He sees nothing but your new man. This is why Paul emphasized that your life “is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). It is not your old man that is hid; remember it is dead, but it is your new life that is hidden. Inside of the sacrifice of Christ is the new you, for Christ is living through you to the glory of the Father.

I have heard it said that Jesus is walking next to the believer, defending them from harm. Actually, Jesus is living through the believer so that they are more than a conqueror. You never need fear that you will go somewhere that Jesus will abandon you or leave you alone. You cannot run Him off or run Him out, for He has purchased you with a price. When God views you, He cannot help but see Jesus, for it is the blood of the Lamb that marks the house of your heart.
Paul continues with, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). Christ is not a part of our life, He IS our life! My life is non-existent without Christ, for the old me is dead. Without Jesus, there is nothing to define me, and that is a wonderful thing to cherish. We are all just a fading shadow without Christ; but with Him as our Comforter and guide, we are the living, breathing, righteousness of God.

Since we know that we are a new creation, and that Jesus is living through us, we should set all of our attentions on showing forth Christ in our daily lives. While we live a life of abundance and favor, we are to keep our desires toward heaven; with glorifying the Father in the forefront of our hearts and minds. The Christian life is not about doing the right and shunning the wrong; it is about a relationship with the Father. Once we know who we are in Jesus, there should be a daily desire to show His love and grace to the world around us. As long as we are consumed with getting new things and being someone on this earth, we are thinking very little about presenting Christ to a world in desperate need of salvation.

May you relax today in the knowledge that the old man has passed away and that your new man is hidden with Christ in God. Now, take that knowledge and do something great with it! You have a chance to set your affection on Godly things, with the finished work of Christ in your sights. Will you squander another day looking for your own pleasures, or will you share of His love with a hurting world?

 

Watch Your Mouth!

Matthew 6:25-34

A stern warning from any mother to her child is “watch your mouth!” and most of us have been on the receiving end of that warning at least once in our lives. I think that I responded with, “I can’t see my mouth so how can I watch it?” but I only got to do that one time. You can imagine the response.

Jesus gave the cure for anxiety when He told the Jews at the Sermon on the Mount to trust in the Father’s care for them. He showed them the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field, how both are provided for by the heavenly Father, and how they are better than fowl or lilies. His cure was prefaced with a warning, which appears in one form or the other five different times in this passage: “take no thought”. Look at each warning:

“Take no thought for your life…” (Matthew 6:25)
“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?” (Matthew 6:27)
“Why take ye thought for raiment?” (Matthew 6:28)
“Therefore, take not thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’.” (Matthew 6:31)
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow…” (Matthew 6:34)

The phrase, “take thought” speaks of being anxious or careful, both of which lead us to stress and fear. It also speaks of our thought life, and what we ponder in our head. How we think of a situation invariably leads to how we deal with that situation. If we think that a situation is hopeless then we act that way, and it leads to hopelessness. Feel negative about everything that happens, and always think the worst and you will probably never be disappointed. Why live that way?

In these five instances, Jesus tells us to think differently about the moments in our lives that are everyday concerns for us. We are to watch how we think about our life, what we will eat, drink or wear (verse 25). We are also not to stress about our physical body (verse 25, 27) or whether or not we are going to have new and stylish clothes (verse 28). We shouldn’t concern ourselves with HOW we are going to get these things either (verse 31). Finally, we need not worry about tomorrow, for it is already taken care of (verse 34).

The most important warning of Jesus is expressed in the phrase, “take no thought, saying”. How do we take possession of our thoughts? We express them, and articulate them with words. The moment we speak out loud what is going through our head then we have put legs on our thought life. Many things will cross your mind, but not all of them belong to you. Aren’t you glad that you are not responsible for every single thought that comes into your head? If someone could see what goes on in there they might think differently of all of us!

When we speak those worries aloud, we take those thoughts and make them our own. Like the old saying, “You can’t keep birds from flying over your head but you don’t have to let them build a nest in your hair”, you can’t keep thoughts out of your head, but you don’t have to own them.

Watch your mouth saint! I don’t mean live in fear that you will say the wrong thing, but don’t articulate those thoughts that are full of doubt and unbelief. Allow Christ’s finished work to filter your thoughts before they hit your tongue. Then we will truly bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).