May 6– LD 18, Day 7: We Seek Heavenly Things
by Rev J. Kortering
Colossians 3:1-3, “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.”
This is now the third
advantage for us of Christ’s ascension into heaven. It is expressed in the
catechism this way, “That He sends us His Spirit as an earnest by whose power
we seek the things which are above where Christ sitteth
on the right hand of God, and not the things on
earth.”
There is a close
connection between the first advantage and this one. We saw that Christ as our
advocate at the right hand of God prays for our complete and final salvation,
both personally and as it pertains to the entire church. The answer to that
prayer includes the marvelous act of the Father to give to Jesus the Holy
Spirit, by whose presence and power we are spiritually changed.
The proof of the presence
of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives is that we become spiritually
active. We turn our backs on the pleasures of sin, repent of our sinful deeds
and our sinful nature and seek after God’s way. We desire to walk with God and
enjoy fellowship with His people. All of this displays the presence of the
Spirit of Christ. Even more than that, it is the “earnest” or guaranteed pledge
of perfection.
The direction of this
spiritual life is heavenward.
We take our burdens to
the Father in the name of Jesus; we seek forgiveness for sins and deliverance
from the power of sin. Because Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, He
takes our prayers and makes intercession for us with the Father. Our Father
receives our cries for the sake of Jesus, His Son. “For ye are dead, and your
life is hid with Christ in God.”
Looking heavenward, we
direct our life to heaven, we “seek the things which
are above”. What a change in direction. We become heavenly minded, we measure
our spiritual progress by heaven’s standard. We act like we belong in heaven.
Blessings flow to us from
heaven and we direct our life towards heaven.
Are you thus converted
unto God by the resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus?