✝️ Colossians 3:1 | What Jesus Sought & Contemplating Eternity
PLUS: Jesus as the model & community spotlight
Kieran Lenahan
May 30, 2024
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Happy Thursday!
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📧 In today’s email…
📖 Connecting Colossians 3:1 to other parts of Scripture
🤔 Contemplating the eternal..
🔦 Community spotlight!
🧠 Memorize
see if you know what words go in the blanks
If then ___ ____ ____ ______ ____ ______, seek ___ ______ ____ ___ _____,
where ______ __, seated __ ___ _____ ____ __ God.
Colossians 3:1
(Answer key below. You can also use our free web app to memorize in your favorite translation. Set up instructions are linked at the bottom of this email.)
Connecting to Other Parts of Scripture 📖
In Paul’s letters, we see this over and over —
— He points the early Christians back to the foundation of their faith: the resurrected Jesus.
Paul does this in his letters by both:
Reminding people of the absolute superiority of Jesus as King (if you truly understood who He is, submit your whole life to Him), and
He reinforces the words, teachings and example of Jesus (become like Jesus and do what he did)
Paul is always pointing people back to Jesus. Here are a few examples..
In Colossians 3:1-2…
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
…we see Paul reminding the Christians in Colossae of some of Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 6:
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
33
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
In Ephesians, Paul points Christians to Jesus’ unique dominion, authority and position at the right hand of the father:
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church
In Philippians, Paul which reminds believers that "our citizenship is in heaven."
19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
There are many more examples I could share, but you can see the pattern.
The focus of Jesus’ entire life, teachings, death and resurrection was on the eternal.
What did Jesus seek?
He sought eternity with us - his creation, his treasure, his friends.
Without the death and resurrection of Jesus, we would have no hope of ever experiencing the ‘heavenly’ or ‘things that are above’ in full.
But thanks to Jesus’ work on the cross, he put eternity with God on offer for us.
As a gracious gift from a loving Father to undeserving kids.
That is the heart of our memory verse this week.
Practice: 🤔
In Jesus, the heavenly and eternal broke through.
Without Him, the temporary would be all we have.
In this life (only thanks to Jesus), we get tastes of the eternal.
But for a moment, just imagine what it will be like to be in the unencumbered presence of the King of Kings.
Practice: Contemplate the eternal 🙏
As you go about your day, find a few minutes to do nothing except intentionally think about the gift of eternal life with God.
Bring your questions, your gratitude and your wonder to God in prayer.
Community spotlight 🔦
Shout-outs 📣
Shout out to Avinash and Rhonda for donating to Malachi Daily by getting something from our shop!
HUGE thank you’s to Mia Lee, GMC, and one anonymous subscriber for choosing to pay-it-forward so we can help more people memorize and learn about God’s Word!
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Answer key ✅
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
Have a blessed Thursday ✌️
Best,
Kieran & Isaac
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