So today was bitter/sweet. I got on a plane and left all my friends back in Florida. I will not see most of them all summer. But today was also sweet, because I’m home now. My brother picked me up in his new car…which was awesome! It’s a Mustang… 
It’s about 4:30 AM, Florida time…and I should get to bed, but I felt like blogging. I actually dislike flying, it’s uncomfortable. I was sitting in a small seat for like four hours today, not pleasant. But I’m thankful for travel, it could be worse. So, I got home, and promptly began having discussions on how to fix the world with my brother. Oh, and I also rewrote my sister’s graduation speech. I have yet to see my mom, dad, and grandma…they are in bed.
There is a sense of excitement in me. God has worked in my life. Changing me. Transforming me into his image. I don’t understand everything, but at the end of the day, I just want to know Him. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen God move in the way I’ve seen Him move lately. Perhaps I was just blind, or maybe I’m just getting to know Him better. The awesome and incredible things I’m seeing, is that He’s working in those around me.
I was talking to a good friend of mine the other day. She was pointing out the things God was showing in her life. How she had been distracted by the things of this world. How material things had a hold, if small, on her. Yet, as God changed her, those things became peripheral in her sight, and the heavenly things became more important. See, it wasn’t like God told her…get rid of these things. It was more like she is growing so close to God, that those things just fade in the background.
“If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
This verse illustrates it so beautifully. Set your mind. You have died. Your life is hidden. With Christ. In God. Wow! This is huge! This verse doesn’t say…get rid of all you own. It says seek the things above and set your mind on things above. Why? This is key. You have died, you are not your own, you have been bought with a price, your life is hidden with Christ IN God. When we truly realized who we are IN Christ, when our view of God is correct, almost all by itself, we will automatically realize that the things of this earth are NOTHING. And the the real things are heavenly. We set our minds, and we realize who God is. These two things are so closely related. It’s because we realize who God is that we set our minds. And it’s when we set our minds that we know God even more. Perhaps I have this verse wrong, there is a part of it that I’m not sure I understand right, so feel free to comment. But what I’m driving at is that the real solution to getting rid of a materialistic attitude is not to get rid of our stuff, but it’s to focus our entire beings on the Owner of that stuff. All else will fall into it’s proper place.
