Monday December 16, 2013
Colossians 3:1-4

Have you been hearing some Christmas music in the stores? Maybe you have even been to a Christmas party or two. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I love this time of year!

Let’s start a new week with a quick look at the Gospels. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning (the genesis) was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” It is a beautiful and poetic description of Jesus who is the Word made flesh. In fact, our goal of Waiting On The Word is really a deep desire to be ready to receive and recognize Jesus, the Word of John 1:1.

Matthew 1:1 gives us a bit of a different view. It says, “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.” From there it identifies the generational links (in three sequences of 14 generations each) from Abraham to Jesus with a strong eye toward Jewish history. From there we begin to hear Matthew’s account of the birth in Bethlehem.

John 1:1 and Matthew 1:1 provide us with an important reminder that we need to go back to an image of the nature of Jesus and of his birth. That is especially true for our time together today. Because today’s reading from Colossians 3 will take us all the way to the other end of the Jesus time line. It speaks about the ascended Christ who is seated at the right hand of God. We move from the cries of a newborn to the transforming spiritual presence of Jesus that will appear in ultimate glory.

Both images are central to our Advent engagement. Between those two bookends (the birth and the glory) we hear an instruction about how we can tune our hearts and minds to a spiritual song. We are invited to, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” This is the season to do just that. Let’s see if we can let our reflections rest on Colossians 3:2 for the remainder of the day.

What will you do today to set your mind (and even your heart!) on the things of the spirit that are above the noise and distractions of the world? What steps will you take? What outcome would you look for as evidence that you were successful in your reflective effort?

Memory Verse Of The Week:

Colossians 3:12 NIV
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”

Missional Prayer Focus For Today:
Please pray for the efforts of the CROP Walk to provide food security systems here in our own community and around the world.