Seek the Things Above

By: Grace Metzger

If then you have been raised with
Christ, Seek the things that are above,
Where Christ is seated at
The right hand of God
Colossians 3:1

My mother used to always tell us that whatever TV show we watched, music we listened to, or books we read, it will affect our mind, our spirit, and our moods. As a child I would roll my eyes at this thinking she was just trying to be over protective of her kids. But as an adult I see the wisdom behind her words. I’ve come to learn just how much the media I consume has an affect on me, my mental health, and my relationship with God. I am addicted to my phone in a way that is becoming a bit of a concern. I can easily spend eight hours a day on my phone. Spending that much time focusing on the things of this earth affects can affect you.

No one can serve two masters. Either you hate one
And love the other or you will be devoted to one and hate the other
Matthew 6:24

I recently read that verse and it stuck with me. I wanted to figure out if I was truly serving God or serving an idol. I looked at how I spent most of my time, was I spending my time in prayer and worship? Or was I spending all my time trying to find joy from my phone? This is honestly a hard question to ask and an even harder question to answer. I think everyone knows what their answer is but no one is going to joyfully admit it. For some people it might not even be your phone, it could be anything from reading to video games. It might even be something beneficial like working out. It’s not that any of these things are bad, yet when they shift our focus away from God onto things of this world, that’s when we need to step back and look at where our priorities lie.

The Bible evens talks about the importance of having God as our first priority. In Matthew 6:33 it says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.”

Taking a step back from what we are prioritizing over God is the first step. You might be worried that the next step is going to be to cut out that thing completely, to throw away your phone or never watch TV again. I don’t think it’s always necessary to go that far. My solution to realigning my focus onto God was to put time limits on my phone. Yours could be something similar. Or maybe you need to fast from it temporarily. Fasting is an amazing way to make sure that you are focusing on God and not human desires or needs. These solutions might seem hard at first but let me tell you it will make such a huge affect on your life in a positive way. 

Discussion Questions:

1) What fills up your time?

2) How do you make sure your focus is on God and not things of this world?