Set Your Mind

 

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.

—John 14:3-4

 

In the Upper Room the night before His crucifixion, Jesus spoke these words about heaven to comfort the disciples’ troubled hearts regarding what was to come. He was also sharing how He found encouragement during the darkest time of His own life. Jesus maintained His focus on the joy that lay before Him (Hebrews 12:2-3). Keeping our focus on eternity helps us place what happens in our lives into its proper perspective. 

 

“If our hope in Christ is only for this life,” Paul wrote, “we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world” (I Corinthians 15:19, NLT). 

 

This world is not our end. As Christians, we have heaven to look forward to. Heaven and its benefits will far outweigh all the worries we face here on earth (Romans 8:18). To keep the positive faith Jesus had and that He commands us to have, we must be heavenly-minded. 

 

“If then you were raised with Christ,” Paul wrote, “seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2).

 

How often are we consumed with what is happening now, rather than the joy of heaven that is to come? We must set our minds on things above! Jesus knew where He was going! His mind was set on heaven, so He could endure what was coming.

 

In John 14:4, Jesus told the disciples that they knew where He was going and how to get there. Thomas contradicted Him, saying, “We don’t know where You are going, and if we don’t know that, how can we know the way to where You are going?” 

 

Who was right, Jesus or Thomas? In John 14:6, Jesus explained to the disciples that He was going to His Father and that He was the only way for them to come to the Father. Jesus had previously told His disciples these things; they just failed to recognize the connection. If they had focused on what Jesus had already told them, they would have seen it. Similarly, we may not fully grasp something the Lord has said in His Word, but we should never contradict it, as Thomas did. It is perfectly fine to seek clarification, but we should never place our own understanding above God’s Word (Proverbs 3:5). Jesus is always right.

 

We cannot set our minds on something we question. Questioning the truths of God’s Word will certainly hinder our ability to overcome the struggles of this earthly life. We must focus on the Holy Spirit’s revelation of God’s Word rather than relying on our own understanding. While we live on this earth, heaven is our ultimate promise. Focusing on the joy that is to come can happen only through the Word sustaining us right now. 

 

If you set your mind on the things of this world, you will live according to its worries. But if you set your mind on the things of the Spirit, you will live according to heaven’s promise (Romans 8:6). Lay up for yourself treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be (Matthew 6:20-21).

  

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